THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE   PASCHAL 

JJoems 

FOR    PASSION-TIDE    AND    EASTER 


BY 

A.    CLEVELAND    COXE 
€trt 


SECOND  EDITION. 


NEW    YORK 

JAMES   POTT   &   COMPANY 
1892 


COPYRIGHT,  1889, 
Bv  A.  CLEVELAND  COXE, 


Press  of  J.J.  Little  &  Co., 
Astor  Place,  New  York. 


/s 


PREFACE. 

THE  poems  here  collected  have  been  written, 
nearly  all  of  them,  at  the  Season  they  celebrate, 
in  successive  years.     Some  of  them  were  written 
more  than  forty  years  ago.     The  "Paschal  New-' 
Moon,"  if  I  recollect,  is  the  oldest  of  the  series. 

All  that  it  may  be  desirable  to  say  as  intro- 
ductory to  this  book  will  be  found  in  the  Notes. 
I  beg  my  kind  reader  to  consult  them,  on  points 
that  may  require  Scripture  citations  and  other 
references  for  the  elucidation  of  the  text.  If  any 
of  the  poems  are  worth  reading  at  all,  they  will 
be  found  worth  reading  more  than  once,  in  con- 
nection with  the  Church  Lessons  of  the  Season. 

The  Paschal-Season,  as  here  understood,  ex- 
tends from  the  appearance  of  the  Paschal  New- 
Moon  to  the  octave  of  Pentecost,  or  Trinity  Sun- 
day. How  sublimely  the  Christian  poet  has 
said — 

"  As  through  a  zodiac  moves  the  ritual  year 
Of  Holy  Church  :  stupendous  mysteries, 
Which  whoso  travels  in  her  bosom  eyes, 
As  he  approaches  them,  with  solemn  cheer." 

This  book  is  designed  to  open  some  of  those 
"stupendous  mysteries,"  especially  to  minds  just 


623861 


iv  PREFACE. 

beginning  to  know  and  love  the  Church's  system, 
and  to  feel  the  attractions  of  her  holy  methods 
for  imparting  a  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
of  those  "truths  that  wake  to  perish  never." 
I  pray  God  that  all  who  accept  my  guidance  in 
these  Scriptural  Meditations  may  be  helped  by 
it  toward  that  Heavenly  City  which  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  doth  lighten,  and  "  the  Lamb  is  the 
light  thereof." 

A.  C.  C. 

LEACOTE,  RHINEBECK-ON-HUDSON, 
April,  1889. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PROEM i 

THE  PASCHAL  NEW-MOON 6 

PROPHECY q 

ABEL n 

MELCHIZEDEK 13 

THE  GREAT  HIGH  PRIEST  15 

MARAH 17 

THE  TRANSFIGURATION 19 

THE  GARDEN 22 

SPRING  RAINS 25 

PASCHAL  EMBLEMS 27 

SYMBOLS  IN  ART 30 

HIDDEN  FLOWERS. 33 

THE  SAVIOUR 36 

SCRIPTURE  TOKENS •. . . .  38 

THE  DAY  OF  PALMS 40 

LEAVEN 49 

THE  WELL-SPRING 51 

A  HYMN  OF  FAITH 53 

THE  ROSE  OF  SHARON 59 

HOLY- WEEK  —    61 

MESSIAH .63 

GETHSEMANE 66 

THE  BETRAYER 69 

THE  COUNCIL 74 

CAIAPHAS 78 

PONTIUS  PILATE 80 

GABBATHA ...  93 

CALVARY 96 

FOLLOWING  THE  LAMB 98 

THE  CROSS-BEARER 100 

THE  WAY  OF  SORROWS.  .                                   .  102 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

GOLGOTHA .  104 

THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS 107 

THE  CROSS no 

THE  THREE  CROSSES 112 

THE  ATONEMENT 116 

THE  DESIRE  OF  NATIONS 120 

NlCODEMUS 122 

THE  BURIAL " 124 

THE   SEPULCHRE 126 

EASTER 129 

EASTER  IN  THE  GARDEN 131 

THE  EASTER  EUCHARIST 134 

THE  BIRD  SONG 135 

THE  BUTTERFLY 137 

EASTER-EGGS  . 139 

THE  ROYAL  YARN 143 

EASTER  VIRELAY 147 

SONG  FOR  EASTER    149 

EASTER  IN  PATMOS 151 

THE  ANGELS  ON  THE  ARK 154 

RHODA 156 

THE  WALK  TO  EMMAUS 159 

THE  EARTHQUAKE 163 

THE  MYSTERY  OF  LIFE 167 

EUDORA 170 

THE   INNOCENTS 173 

THE  UNBAPTIZED 175 

EUTHANASIA. 178 

A  THOUGHT  FROM  THE  FATHERS 182 

AMARANTH 184 

THE  ASCENSION 186 

THE  UNSPEAKABLE  GIFT 188 

THE  Two   PENTECOSTS 190 

WHITSUNDAY 192 

HOMEWARD 194 

THE  GIVER  OF   LIFE 196 

THE  TRINITY 195 


TO  MARY  AND   ELIZABETH, 

IN    PARADISE. 


PROEM. 


THE  rainbow  oft,  on  tears  of  April-tide, 
In  the  sweet  week  of  Easter,  we  behold  ; 

Its  bow  of  beauty,  like  the  Crucified 

Bending  from  heaven,  all  nature  to  enfold 
In  Love's  embrace.     Then  from  that  throne  of 
gold, 

'Mid  iris-lustres,  in  the  highest  sphere, 
Seems  to  bend  down  its  arch  of  emerolde  ; 

And  Paradise,  it  seemeth  very  near, 

As   if  the    dwellers  there  perchance   our   sighs 
might  hear. 

2. 

Sweet  sisters,  in  repose  ye  wear  new  names, 
Yet  let  me  dream  ye  hearken.     Once,  in  time, 

Ye  were  my  muses,  and  ev'n  more  than  fame's 
I  courted  your  applause,  in  youth's  glad  prime, 
When  oft  ye  listened  to  my  boyish  rhyme 
i 


2  TO   MARY   AND   ELIZABETH. 

With    eyes   that   shone,    as  jiow    they  shine   in 

bliss. 

Ah,  borne  too  early  to  abodes  sublime, 
Fain  would  I  know  ye  take  it  not  amiss 
Though  angels'  songs  ye  hear — to  list  a  lay  like 

this. 

3- 

Ye  cannot  hear  my  later  songs,  alas  ! 

Ye  dearest  ones  that  deign'd  to  praise  my  first : 
So  grieved  the  Weimar  poet,  in  the  glass 
Of  memory  gazing  on  fair  forms  that  nurst 
His  young  adventure,  ere  its  blossoms  burst 
In    fancy's    flowers    and    fragrance.       Such    my 

thought 
When  for  these  songs,  my  last — perchance  my 

worst, 

I  coveted  your  ear.     Yet  are  they  fraught 
With  His  dear  Name  of  Names,  who  our  redemp- 
tion bought. 

4- 

We  grew  together,  lov'd  by  one  whose  pride 

Watched  o'er  the  budding  of  your  loveliness  ; 
Nor  knew  we,  for  too  soon,  alas  !  ye  died, 

All    that    he   wrought    our    tender    years   to 
bless, 

Mingling  wise  counsel  with  his  fond  caress. 
Wisdom  and  wit  were  his,  and  nature  gave 

His  manly  heart  a  maiden's  tenderness  ; 


TO    MARY    AND    ELIZABETH.  3 

And  Christian  hope  adorns  his  lowly  grave, 
Where,  on  the  field  he  fell,  Christ's  soldier,  true 
and  brave. 


Nor  less,  while  your  sweet  life  was  link'd  with 

mine, 

I  shared  her  love,  who  o'er  your  cradle  bent 
And  trained   your  earliest   thought  to  thoughts 

divine  : 

For  oft  to  me  her  kindly  care  was  lent 
In  words  of  cheer,  with  gentle  warning  blent, 
When  to  the  poet's  shell  I  tuned  my  youth. 
She  loved  all  arts  the  soul  that  ornament, 
And  wing'd  her  nestlings,  like  young  birds  for- 
sooth, 
To  soar  aloft  betimes  and  bask  in  light  and  truth. 

6. 

We  parted,  where  the  snow-peaks  all  aglow 
Shone  like  an  opal,  and  the  setting  sun 

Flamed  o'er  the  Pyrenees,  in  pleasant  Pau, 
Along  the  vale  where  restless  Gave  doth  run  : 
And  as  we  gazed,  each  an  enraptured  one, 

Tvvas  well  we  heard  no  voices,  save  our  own  ; 
For   seem'd    our    life   beginning — when    'twas 
done  ; 

And  with  that  sunset,  oh  !  forever  flown 

Are  joys  so  long  we  knew,  and  hopes  no  longer 
known. 


4  TO    MARY    AND    ELIZABETH. 

7- 

Yet  may  I  glean  a  moral  from  that  day 

Of  parting,  and  its  light  o'er  mount  and  glen, 

For  in  the  Sun's  own  clime,  the  poets  say 

He  reigns  at  sunset,  wears  no  crown  till  then. 
So  goes  the  adage,  too,  of  meaner  men  ; 

The  end    crowns    labour.     Welcome    life's   soft 


eve 


Who  sings  the  Resurrection  cries  Amen, 
As  lengthening  shadows  mark  the  hour  to  leave 
This  life's  deceitful  scene,  for  scenes  that  ne'er 
deceive. 

8. 

Ev'n  as  a  bird  forgets  its  wonted  note 
When  death  o'ershades  its  bower,  and  comes 
no  more 

The  smile  that  seemed  upon  its  song  to  dote, 
So  when  ye  slept,  my  listless  hand  gave  o'er 
And  lost  its  cunning  ;  for  I  grieved  heart-sore, 

Tuneless  my  shell  and  unfulfilled  my  dream. 
Now,  faith  reproacheth  that  I  thus  forbore ; 

Wake,  languid  shell  nor  moan,  by  Babel's  stream  ; 

Wake,  from  the  willows  wake,  to  Faith's  trans- 
porting theme. 


9- 

Yes,  wake  my  soul,  in  swan-like  notes  to  sing 
Of  that  blest  home,  where,  nevermore  to  die, 


TO   MARY   AND    ELIZABETH.  5 

To  them  that  slept  comes  Life's  eternal  spring, 
Where  Love  enthron'd  all  human  tears  shall 

dry, 

Hearts  claim  their  kin  and  brightens  eye  to  eye. 
Sweet  sisters,  ye  are  safe.     For  me,  how  rife 

Perils  of  conflict,  ev'n  as  years  draw  nigh 
That  bring  the  grateful  furlough  after  strife, 
And  shines  our  even-star,  the  dawn  of  deathless 
life. 


THE  PASCHAL  NEW-MOON. 


WELCOME  thou  little  bow  of  light, 
Faint  gleaming  in  the  Western  height 

O'er  Day's  decline  ! 
Thou,  to  the  busy  world  of  men, 
Art  but  the  month  begun  again  ; 

But  to  this  eye  of  mine 
Lighted  by  Faith's  diviner  ken, 

A  season  and  a  sign. 

2. 

Welcome,  reflected  in  the  rill, 
Thine  image  on  the  waters,  chill 

From  melting  snows  : 
But  brighter,  in  the  depths  serene, 
Of  my  glad  soul,  thy  sacred  sheen 

The  Church's  index  shows  ; 
Regent  of  holy-tides,  and  Queen 

Of  Easter's  dawn  and  close. 

3- 

Thou  hast  been  waited  for  :  the  lore 
Of  holy  sages,  long  before 

Hath  marked  thy  day  : 


THE   PASCHAL   NEW-MOON. 

For  with  thy  heavenly  march  sublime, 
The  Paschal-eve  and  Paschal-prime 

One  Lord,  one  law,  obey  ; 
The  Church  hath  calendar'd  thy  time, 

And  traced  thy  starry  way. 

4- 

And  key-note  of  her  Easter-song, 
Is  thy  sweet  tune,  thy  path  along 

In  yon  blue  deep  : 
We  watch  thy  crescent,  till  its  rim 
Is  filled  with  glory  to  the  brim, 

And  still  our  fast  we  keep  ; 
Then,  tide-like,  swells  our  Easter-hymn, 

Round  the  whole  earth  to  sweep. 

5- 

Thou  bringest  cheer  ;  thou  endest  days 
Of  fast  with  feast,  of  plaint  with  praise, 

Of  rue  with  balm. 
Beauty  for  ashes  thou  dost  bring  ; 
The  oil  of  joy  for  sorrowing  ; 

For  grief  thou  bringest  calm  ; 
Thou  changes!  tears  to  triumphing, 

And  Litany  to  Psalm. 

6. 

The  bow  of  Joseph,  thou  !     Thy  light 
Reminds  me  of  the  Hebrew's  right 
And  Egypt's  wrong  ; 


THE   PASCHAL    NEW-MOON. 

Reminds  me  of  Mosaic  priests, 

Their  hyssop-branch,  their  bleeding  beasts, 

The  prophet's  goodly  throng  ; 
Their  bitter  herbs,  unleavened  feasts, 

And  hallelujah-song  : 

7- 

Reminds  me  of  that  night  of  gloom  ; 
The  Twelve,  the  One,  the  upper-room  ; 

The  Bread  and  Wine  : 
Of  Olivet  remindeth  me, 
Of  Kedron  and  Gethsemane  ; 

Of  Thee,  Redeemer  mine  ! 
Thy  cross,  Thy  cries,  Thy  victory, 

Stupendous  love  divine. 


O  Paschal  moon,  to  wax  and  wane, 
Though  short  thy  date,  how  wide  thy  reign 

Afar  and  near. 

Thou  art  the  Church's  harvest-moon  : 
She  sows  in  tears,  but  reapeth,  soon, 

A  sheaf  for  every  tear. 
Shine  on  !     We  catch  thy  heavenly  tune, 

And  shout  the  harvest-cheer. 


PROPHECY. 


HER  seed  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his 
heel.— GENESIS,  iii.  15. 


SWEET  spring,  from  clefts  of  Eden's  Rock, 

Fresh'ning  its  meads  that  poured, 
Grateful  to  man  and  herd  and  flock, 

And  birds  that  stooped  and  soared; 
Bright  rill,  whose  waters  crystal-clear 

Ev'n  Silo's  fount  excelled, 
And  sent,  meand'ring  far  and  near, 

Broad  brooks  thenceforth  that  well'd  : 


2. 

Oh  !  fount  of  life  to  slake  our  thirst, 

Four  mighty  streams  that  fed  ; 
Fair  Paradise  that  water'd  first, 

Then  parted,  from  each  head, 
To  East  and  West  and  South  and  North, 

Bestowing  health  and  youth, 
1  joy  to  view,  as  from  their  birth, 

Those  streams  of  Light  and  Truth  ! 


PROPHECY. 

3- 

Streams  that  are  one  as  on  they  flow, 

From  age  to  age  the  same, 
Yet  broader  and  more  glorious  grow, 

Rivers  of  Life  their  name; 
Refreshing  earth,  reflecting  skies 

That  smile  above  and  shine, 
Till,  in  the  better  Paradise, 

They  lose  their  flood  divine. 

4- 

Sweet  parable  of  promised  grace, 

The  serpent's  head  to  crush  ; 
I  love  th'  unnumber'd  rills  to  trace 

That  from  that  Promise  gush  ; 
To  see  how  confluent  words  of  love 

Enlarge  their  onward  tide  ; 
And  how,  as  to  that  sea  above, 

The  waters  grow  and  glide  ; 

5- 

How  prophecy  becomes,  at  last, 

The  Gospel  in  its  strength, 
Flooding  the  world,  and  forth  and  fast 

To  heavenward  speeds,  at  length  ; 
How  in  that  ocean,  boundless  all, 

Where  faith  is  turned  to  sight, 
The  streams  of  truth  and  promise  fall 

And  lose  themselves  in  light. 


ABEL. 

BY  it,  he  being  dead,  yet  speaketh.  — HEB.  xi.  4. 


'Tis  at  fair  Eden's  gate,  where  bright 
Shine  the  rapt  cherubim, 

And  waves  that  flaming  blade  of  light, 
Barring  the  way  to  Him 

Whose  fiery  Law  hath  set  the  sword, 

Whose  Love  the  reconciling  Word. 


Who  shall  that  gate  of  glory  ope 

And  Paradise  unbar  ? 
Behold  the  Promised  Seed,  our  Hope  ; 

Of  Life  the  Morning-Star  : 
Whose  symbol  is  a  lamb  that  died, 
With  spotless  fleece  our  shame  to  hide. 

3- 
Lo  !  first  of  woman  born,  appear 

Brothers  in  manly  youth, 
And  to  that  golden  gate  draw  near, 

Where  Mercy  shines,  and  Truth. 
Time's  earliest  Paschal-tide  to  keep, 
One  brings  the  choicest  of  his  sheep. 


12  ABEL. 

4- 

Anon,  their  votive  altars  rise  : 

Faith's  altar  Abel  rears, 
And  binds  the  lamb  of  sacrifice 

With  contrite  prayer  and  tears  ; 
While  for  atoning  love  he  pleads, 
And  views  the  mystic  lamb  that  bleeds. 

5- 
Forth  flames  the  fire  of  love  divine, 

But,  of  those  altars  twain, 
On  one  alone  its  glories  shine : 

Cold  is  the  pile  of  Cain, 

Where,  piled  with  gourds  and  berries  crude, 
God  may  partake  a  sinner's  food. 

6. 
Cold  is  the  heart  of  unbelief 

That  spurns  the  bleeding  Lamb. 
But  hot  is  envious  hate,  and  brief 

Its  slighted  conscience-qualm. 
Abel,  faith's  earliest  martyr,  dies, 
Yet  lives  and  speaks  his  sacrifice. 

7- 
Oh  !  dread  rehearsal,  long  before 

Of  Calv'ry's  darker  day, 
When  the  Good  Shepherd  came  and  bore 

In  death  our  sins  away  : 
When  envious  hate,  with  deeper  stain, 
Renewed  the  sacrifice  of  Cain. 


MELCHIZEDEK. 

HE  was  the  Priest  of  the  Most  High  God.— GENESIS,  xiy.  18. 


OUT  of  the  mist  of  ages  comes,  unknown, 

His  crown'd  and  mitred  mien, 
Who  evermore,  a  Priest  upon  His  throne, 

Shall  live  and  reign  serene  : 
The  King  of  righteousness  His  sceptre  shews, 
While  palms  and  olives  near  the  Prince  of  Peace 
disclose. 

2. 

And  Father  Abraham  bends  and  bows  before 

One  greater  far  than  He  ; 
Forth    come   the    Bread    and  Wine,  prefiguring 

more 

Than  feeble  sense  may  see  : 
The  offer'd  tithes  His  sacrifice  proclaim, 
And    His    High-priesthood    own   of    everlasting 
Name. 

3- 

Thus  Abraham  saw  Christ's  day.     The  man  of 

woes 
Is  Salem's  mystic  king  ; 


14  MELCHIZEDEK. 

The  King  of  Righteousness  whose  names  disclose 

Of  Peace  the  Prince  and  spring: 
The  wine-press,  for    our   thirst,  who    comes  to 

tread, 
And  for  our  hungering  souls  to  break  the  Living 

Bread. 


THE   GREAT    HIGH   PRIEST. 

A  PRIEST  upon  his  throne. — ZECH.  vi.  13. 


'MlD  Alpine  peaks,  a  hoary  height  and  lone 

Oft  makes  the  morn  its  crown, 
Bright  o'er  the  mists.     So  shines  the  heavenly 

throne 

Where  Abram's  faith  bows  down, 
And   comes  —  tremendous    Name  —  God's  own 

High  Priest, 

With  faith's  mysterious  feast. 
Unsired,  Unborn,  the  Wonderful  and  dread, 

He  brings  forth  Wine  and  Bread, 
Which,  on  that  spot,  he  means  to  give  afresh, 
Disclosed  at  last  and  known,  th'  Eternal  Word 
made  flesh. 


In  Salem's  upper-room,  that  awful  night, 

See  One  with  twelve  recline. 
With  bitter  herbs  they  keep  the  Paschal  rite : 

Then  takes  He  Bread  and  Wine. 
Think,  O  my  soul,  'tis  He,  the  very  same, 

Melchizedek  His  Name, 


1 6  THE  GREAT   HIGH    PRIEST. 

The  Man  that  is  God's  fellow,  from  of  yore, 

All  human  priests  before, 

Whom  Abram  met  and  own'd  mankind's  Desire, 
Who  blest  that  faithful  man  of  faithful  men  the 
Sire. 

3- 
We,  then,  his  sons,  as  Father  Abraham  bent, 

To  Salem's  Prince  bow  down  ; 
To  Salem's  Great  High  Priest  our  souls  present, 

And  own  His  Cross  and  Crown. 
His  pierced  hands  we  kiss,  and  pierced  feet ; 

For  offertory  meet, 
Our  alms,  our  hearts,  ourselves  bestow, 

And  all  our  pride  down  throw, 
Athirst  for  God,  and  crying  to  be  fed 
Lord  give  us  ever  more  Thyself,  the  Living  Bread. 

4- 

For  Oh  !  once  more,  where  thrones  confess  the 
shock, 

Our  eyes  shall  see  the  same, 
Ancient  of  Days,  of  ages  the  great  Rock, 

Who  comes  on  wheels  of  flame  ! 
Serene  He  reigns  o'er  earth  and  earthly  things, 

The  Lord,  and  King  of  Kings  ; 
And  sits,  a  priest  upon  His  throne, 

Th'  unchanging  priest  and  lone 
The  Order  of  Melchizedek  sublime 
Before  all  worlds  who  bore,  and  bears  beyond  all 
time. 


MARAH. 

THE  waters  of  Marah were  bitter:  therefore  the  name 

of  it  was  called  Marah And  the  Lord  shewed  him  a  tree, 

which  when  he  had  cast  into  the  waters,  the  waters  were 
made  sweet. — EXOD.  xv.  23-25. 


THE  Branch  that  sweetens  Marah's  wells, 
Of  Mary  and  Messiah  tells  : 
How  she,  whom  all  mankind  shall  bless, 
Yet  shared  our  nature's  bitterness, 
Till  He,  upon  her  breast  that  lay, 
Took  the  sad  taint  of  Eve  away. 

2. 

Hark  !  o'er  the  Erythrean  main, 

Tis  Miriam's  timbrel  flings  the  strain, 

Prelusive,  to  the  faithful  ear, 

Of  Mary's  song  and  rapture  clear  ; 

For  Miriam's  name  and  Miriam's  woe 

Alike  the  taintless  Maid  foreshow. 

3- 

The  Sun  with  healing  in  His  wings, 
The  Branch  from  David's  root  that  springs, 


1 8  MARAH. 

Of  Gilead's  Tree  the  spicy  fare, 
The  balm  and  the  Physician  there, 
To  Marah  and  to  Miriam  give 
The  touch  that  bids  the  leper  live. 

4- 

Mysterious  tokens,  from  afar 

That  antedate  Messiah's  Star, 

The  rapt  Magnificat  foretell, 

And  shew  the  Branch  to  Israel, 

Who  reigns  and  speaketh  from  the  Tree, 

I  am  the  Lord  that  healeth  thee. 


THE    TRANSFIGURATION. 

MOSES  and  Elias  appeared  in  glory,  and  spake  of  His 
decease  which  He  should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem. — ST.  LUKE, 
ix.  31. 


TRANSFIGURED  on  the  height, 

Ere  yet  two  thieves  between, 
Betwixt  two  saints  in  light, 

Behold  the  Nazarene. 
Behold  the  Lowly  One, 

In  vesture  like  the  snow, 
And  glistening  like  the  sun, 

In  glory's  noontide  glow. 


2. 

From  Pisgah's  grave  afar, 

Tis  Moses  hovering  here, 
And  from  his  fiery  car 

Elijah  comes  anear : 
By  saints  of  ancient  names, 

From  seats  of  heav'nly  rest, 
For  Peter,  John,  and  James, 

Messiah  reigns  confest. 


20  THE  TRANSFIGURATION. 

3- 
Hear  Him,  th'  Incarnate  Word, 

Words  from  high  heaven  declare 
Son  of  the  Living  Lord, 

His  Well-Beloved  Heir. 
Yet  talk  with  Him  the  twain 

Of  death,  reproach  and  loss, 
Of  thorns  and  nails  the  pain, 

Of  wormwood  and  the  Cross. 


4- 

Where  naught  the  faithless  eye 

But  shame  and  death  can  see, 
These  holy  ones  descry 

O'er  death  his  victory  : 
For,  in  that  dazzling  blaze, 

The  true  Shekinah  sheen, 
Outshining  noontide's  rays, 

The  Cross  transformed  is  seen. 

5 

They  talk  with  Him  of  death, 

Like  those  who  sing  the  psalm 
With  harps,  and  trumpets'  breath, 

Of  Moses  and  the  Lamb : 
Breaks  forth  St.  Peter's  tongue, 

He  seems  to  heaven  so  near, 
As  if  response  were  sung, 

'Tis  blessed  to  be  here. 


THE   TRANSFIGURATION. 
6. 

Soon  shall  this  scene  recall 

Those  blest  apostles  three, 
When  bends  the  God  of  all, 

In  dark  Gethsemane  : 
When,  of  the  Lord  of  Life, 

The  bloody  sweat  they  scan, 
And  horrours  gathering  rife 

Around  the  Son  of  Man. 

n 

Dejected,  yet  sustained, 

In  that  mysterious  hour, 
Scattered,  but  yet  regained, 

When  rises  Christ  with  power. 
How  joys  the  little  flock 

In  Tabor's  light  to  see, 
Of  ages  the  great  Rock, 

The  Lamb  of  Calvary. 


THE    GARDEN. 

THEY  heard  the  voice  of  God,  walking  in  the  garden  in 
the  cool  of  the  day. — GEN.  iii.  8. 

I. 

THE  flowers  are  zealous  Christians  in  our  clime, 
And  oft  with  their  sweet  selves  they  seem  to  vie, 
Upspringing,  as  with  holy  rivalry, 

Which  shall  look  cheerfulest  at  Easter-time. 


Therefore,  to  me,  all  gardens  in  the  spring, 
Seem  Joseph's  garden,  with  religion  rife  ; 
Full  of  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  ; 

Of  teachings  full  and  holy  worshipping. 

3- 

Blest  be  the  darling  crocus  in  its  birth, 
That  from  its  icy  sepulchre  doth  burst 
Full  of  divine  ambition  to  be  first 

Of  all  God's  flowers,  in  holy  Easter-mirth. 

4- 

And  blest  the  hyacinth,  of  varied  dyes, 
That  forth,  all  fragrance  from  a  rotten  root, 
Like  grace  from  nature's  misery,  doth  shoot, 

In  the  bright  season  when  the  Lord  did  rise. 


THE   GARDEN.  23 

5- 

Yea,  blessed  be  all  flowers  that  come  in  time 
To  deck  the  Paschal  altar;  violet, 
Snowdrop,  and  arbutus,  and  mosses  wet 

From  rills  that  cheer  the  forest  with  their  chime. 

6. 

There,  'mid  the  new-sprung  grass,  I  love  to  walk, 
Or  where  the  upland  wood  in  tender  green 
Of  its  first  verdure,  like  a  mist  is  seen, 

Fringing  each  tiny  shrub  and  wintry  stalk  ; 

7- 

Where  every  sunbeam  lights  a  miracle, 
The  clothing  of  each  cold  unsightly  thing, 
The  spreading  of  the  hills  with  carpeting, 

The  garnishing  of  moor  and  rock  and  fell ; 


Where  near  at  hand,  or  down  the  vista  opes 
The  view  of  earliest  blossoms,  red  and  white, 
'Mid  tints  of  leafy  emerald,  dark  and  light, 

And  the  sun's  gilding  on  the  hilly  slopes; 

9- 

Where  o'er  the  landscape  everything  I  see 
Impatient  of  its  deadness,  and  with  power 
Asserting  life  in  its  appointed  hour, 

True  to  God's  call,  with  wondrous  energy  : 


24  THE   GARDEN. 


So,  walking  in  the  garden,  heard  God's  voice 
Our  fallen  parents,  but  they  heard  with  fear  ; 
While  we,  redeemed,  exult  His  call  to  hear, 

And  with  all  nature  in  His  smile  rejoice. 

ii. 

For  who,  that  lives  by  faith  in  his  true  heart, 
Knows  not  the  meaning  of  returning  Spring, 
Lifts   not   toward  heaven   the  soul's  aspiring 
wing, 

Longs  not  thus  upward  dovelike  to  depart  ? 

12. 
Oh !    shame,   when  flowers  are    Christians   and 

athirst 

With  all  their  beauty  to  adorn  the  Feast, 
That   Christian    men  should   oft   be  last   and 

least, 
Though  bidden  to  the  marriage-supper  first. 


SPRING    RAINS. 

THERE  went  up  a  mist  .  .  .  and  watered  the  whole  face  of 
the  ground.     And  the  Lord  God  formed  man. — GEN.  ii.  6,  7. 


THE  showers  of  April  on  the  violet's  bed, 
And  on  the  earliest  snowdrop's  drooping  head, 

And  on  the  new-sprung  blade 
Of  promised  harvest,  shed  — 

How  fragrant  have  they  made 
Each  breeze  of  the  sweet  morn  that  round  our 
home  hath  played  ! 

2. 

So  every  joy  of  home  and  love  and  life, 
The  tender  love  of  mother,  sister,  wife, 

The  bliss  that  children  bring 
To  cheer  this  mortal  strife 

And  Time's  o'ershadowing  wing  ; 
These  give  their  fragrance  forth  in  Christ  alone, 
our  Spring. 

3- 

'Tis  His  baptismal  shower  of  love  and  grace, 
Brings  forth  from  dearest  friendship's  fond  em- 
brace, 
And  from  sweet  kindred's  ties, 


26  SPRING   RAINS. 

And  answering  face  to  face 

With  commerce  of  kind  eyes, 
The  perfume  that  is  best,  and  all  that  deepest 
lies. 

4- 

None  know  what  loves,  none  know  what  friend- 
ships mean, 
Save  they  whose  life  in  Christ  is  hid  serene, 

Who  live  and  love  in  Him  ! 
Only  such  love,  I  ween, 

Grows  bright  as  eyes  grow  dim, 
And  lives  beyond  the  grave  among  the  Seraphim. 


PASCHAL    EMBLEMS. 

BEGINNING  at  Moses  and  all  the  Prophets.  He  expounded 
unto  them  in  all  the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  Him- 
self.— ST.  LUKE,  xxiv.  27. 

I. 

0  WHY  to  those  whose  art  might  rainbows  throw 
On  clouds  and  shadows  of  the  Law — so  rare 
Is  given  the  heart  to  sketch  in  colours  fair, 

Those  golden  parables  the  Scriptures  show  ? 

2. 

Deem  not  St.  Luke  the  first  our  Lord  to  paint ; 
For  in  the  Prophets,  as  in  diadems 
That  flash  and  sparkle  with  imperial  gems, 

1  see  His  beauty  crowned,  nor  dim  nor  faint. 

3- 

And  were  the  pencil  mine  it  should  express 
How,  year  by  year,  the  Holy  Week  meseems 
A  vision  multiform,  wherein,  like  dreams, 

Angels  appear,  'mid  bowers  of  loveliness. 

4- 
And  dullest  wits  should  warm  and  generous  grow 

The  tap'stry  work  of  Scripture  to  perceive  ; 

Not  thread  by  thread,  but  as  they  interweave 
Messiah's  image,  first  and  last,  to  show. 


28  PASCHAL    EMBLEMS. 

5 

Not  of  His  glorious  countenance  one  trace 
Would  I  of  painters  borrow.     That,  for  me, 
Shines  out  in  His  Evangel,  even  as  He 

To  those  who  love  Him  would  reveal  His  face. 


6. 

But  the  red  rood  in  colours  would  I  shrine 
And  glorify  ;  as,  'mid  the  stars,  alone, 
That   cross   shall   glitter  when    the    trump  is 
blown  ; 

Ev'n  as  it  g'litter'd  once  to  Constantine. 


7- 

And  as  a  portrait  is  with  brilliants  set, 
I  would  enrich  that  sign,  beneath,  above, 
And  all  around,  with  emblems  of  God's  love, 

Entwined  with  arabesque  and  quaint  vignette. 


Eve's    fig-leaves    should    be    figured,    sere    and 

strown, 

Poor  human  arts  to  hide  our  sin  and  shame  ; 
And  coats  of  skins,  whose  fleecy  snows  pro- 
claim 
The  Lamb  can  clothe  the  sinner ;   He  alone. 


PASCHAL    EMBLEMS.  29 


And  Cain's  oblation,  that  high  heaven  offends, 
Melons    and   gourds   Faith's    sacrifice   should 

mock, 
While,  on  the  firstling  of  blest  Abel's  flock, 

The  fire  of  God.  in  flaming  love,  descends. 


On  Jacob's  dying  eye  each  form  that  rose 
And  kindled  rapture  would  I  trace  around  ; 
There  should  the  Shepherd  and  the  Stone  be 
found, 

And  Joseph  bleeding  'mid  his  archer  foes. 


ii. 

While  in  far  vision,  half  assuming  shape, 
Should  Judah's  blessing  ante-date  the  day 
That  from  His  vine  unbinds  and  leads  away 

The  ass's  foal,  and  presses  its  red  grape. 


12. 

And  there  that  Rock  should  rise,  engrav'd  of  yore 
With  Paschal  emblems,  by  the  Uzzian's  hand, 
That  he  who  runs  might  read  and  understand — 

Our  dear  Redeemer  lives,  for  evermore. 


SYMBOLS   IN   ART. 

A  LIGHT  that  shincth  in  a  dark  place,  until  the  Day  dawn 
and  the  Day-star  arise. — 2  PETER,  i.  19. 


IN  an  old  castle,  'neath  the  Pyrenees — 

I  see  ev'n  now  each  height 

Glitt'ring  with  opal  light, 

And  the  rich  meads  below,  the  river  and  the 
trees : 


2. 

In  that  old  castle,  thro'  long  corridors, 

The  guide  me  led,  one  day,    . 

As  'twere  thro'  history's  way, 
Where   the   dead    past    revived   sad    loves   and 
bitter  wars. 


3- 

Behind  the  arras  of  a  lordly  hall 

He  brought  me,  and  I  stood 

A  moment  in  deep  mood, 

Where  once  th'  assassin  lurked,  close  crouching 
by  the  wall. 


SYMBOLS   IN   ART.  31 

4- 
Behind  the  tap'stry,  in  a  dubious  light, 

Its  rougher  side  I  read, 

Just  making  out  a  head, 
A  hand,  and  what  ?  'twas  hard  to  read  aright. 

5- 

And  yet,  methought,  a  figure  on  a  hill 

Seemed  glittering  like  a  shrine, 

As  if  some  grand  design 
Were  hidden  in  the  woof,  but  half  emerging  still. 

6. 

Blindly  I  strove  its  story  to  descry, 

Its  hero  or  its  scheme  ; 

But,  as  in  mystic  dream, 
I  felt  Messiah's  form  was  on  that  mountain  high. 

7- 

I  felt,  but  could  not  see  ;  for  me  defied 

Crewel  and  scarlet  thread 

'Mid  golden  gleams  or  red, 

Those  traces  faint  and   rude  of  Art's  untoward 
side. 


But  when  I  came  that  tap'stried  hall  within, 
Full  flash'd,  with  wondrous  sheen, 
The  whole  transporting  scene  : 

How  on  my  vision  blest  it  shone  like  Moses'  skin  ! 


32  SYMBOLS    IN    ART. 

9- 

Brighter  than  Moses'  face,  in  morning  light 

Messiah's  form  I  viewed ; 

And  what  before  was  crude 
Came  out  in  full  design,  as  day  deposes  night. 

10. 

No  more  I  spell'd  and  groped  some  clue  to  find 

'Mid  weavings  deftly  wrought  ; 

Clear  was  the  artist's  thought. 
Who  could  not  see  it  all,  his  eyes  indeed  were 
blind. 

ii. 
And  as  I  went,  this  moral  deep  I  drew  : 

Ev'n  so,  of  Holy  Writ 

So  dark  to  human  wit, 
And  those  twin  Testaments,  the  Old  and  New, 


The  Myst'ry  is  made  plain  ;  who  runs  may  read. 

Even  on  the  side  severe 

Messiah's  signs  appear, 

Though  faintly,  in  the  Law,  we  trace  the  Prom- 
ised Seed. 

13- 

Yet  as  in  these  old  patterns  of  the  loom, 

Of  yore  the  prophets  wove 

Their  tapestry  of  Love  ; 

Who  scans  the  Gospel-side  sees  what  they  meant 
and  Whom. 


HIDDEN    FLOWERS. 

THE  testimony  of  Jusus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy. 
I. 

When  o'er  the  Spirit's  words  I  pore  intent, 
My  soul  is  like  a  maid 

That  goes  a-Maying  in  the  woodland  shade, 
Her  peering  eye  down  bent, 
To  spy  here,  there  and  everywhere,  the  flower 
That  most  she  covets  for  her  own  bright  bower. 

2. 

So  everywhere  I  seek,  and  always  find, 
The  fragrant  thing  I  prize. 
The  flower  of  flowers,  whose  beauty  in  mine 

eyes 

Surpasseth  every  kind 

Of  plant  or  gem,  or  creature  blest  with  grace, 
As  childhood  with  its  smiles,  or  woman's  face. 

3- 

I  find,  as  violets  are  found  in  Spring, 
Stones  and  dead  leaves  amid, 
But  all  too  bright  and  fragrant  to  be  hid, 
Ev'n  so  that  blessed  thing 
Where  all  seems  lifeless  if  our  faith  be  dim, 
The  name  of  JESUS,  or  some  trace  of  Him. 
3 


34  HIDDEN   FLOWERS. 

4- 

I  find  my  Saviour  in  the  Rock  ;  the  fount 
That  gushes  from  its  cleft ; 
In  the  cross'cl  hands  of  Jacob,  right  and  left, 
In  Moses'  Burning  Bush  and  fiery  Mount, 
In  Bread,  in  Wine,  in  wood,  in  nails,  in  thorns, 
In  every  figure  that  the  Psalms  adorns. 

5- 
And   when   there   pass,  athwart   the  scenery 

dread 

Of  the  rapt  prophet's  dream, 
Mysterious  shadows,  flecking  the  sunbeam 
With  something  dark  and  undistinguished, 
As  in  the  wood  that  made  the  iron  swim, 
So,  in  the  cloud,  I  still  see  only  Him. 

6. 

In  Miriam's  song  'tis  Mary's  voice  I  hear  ; 
And  Marah's  bitter  well 
Sweet'ned  by  that  fresh  Branch  of  Israel, 
Is  the  foul  pool  of  nature  made  sincere 
In  Mary's  womb,  by  Him  she  did  conceive, 
The  Second  Adam,  born  of  the  new  Eve. 

7- 

Nor,  as  my  foot  along  the  desert  shore 

Treads  in  old  Israel's  way, 

Beneath  that  fire  by  night  and  cloud  by  day, 
Fails  my  fond  heart  to  find,  as  I  explore, 


HIDDEN    FLOWERS.  35 

The  sands  beneath  me  sparkling  with  His  love, 
Ev'n  as  those  symbols  of  His  Truth  above. 

8. 

So,  when  in  Elim's  grateful  shade  I  bait, 
The  good  Physician  nigh, 
I  count  the  wells  of  health  that  spring  hard  by, 
And  then  the  trees  that  bear  the  luscious  date, 
And  find  the  Seventy,  in  that  grove  of  palm, 
Beside  the  Twelve  Apostles  of  the  Lamb. 

9- 

'Tis  sweet  to  trace  the  Gospel  in  the  Law  ; 
Faint  outlines  and  obscure 
Like  the  first  crayon  traits  of  portraiture, 
Which  the  great  Masters  were  enforced  to  draw, 
Ere  in  the  amber  light  of  art  divine 
Transfigured  Christ  might  on  their  canvas  shine. 

10. 

So  ever,  as  the  Book  of  Life  I  scan, 
Still  be  my  soul  a  maid 

Seeking  the  Mower  she  loves  in  sun  and  shade. 
I'd  rather  shout  with   Eve — "  I've  found  THE 

MAN," 

Four  thousand  years  too  soon,  than  live  or  die 
Without  the  Faith  that  breathed  in  that  fond  cry. 


THE    SAVIOUR. 

THOU  shall  call  His  Name  JOSHUA,  for  He  shall  save. 


THE  serpent's  head  to  bruise  whose  heel  shall 
bleed  ? 

What  shall  His  Name  be  called — that  Promised 

Seed? 
The  oracles  were  dark, 

Yet  oft  that  name  was  heard  as  from  the  cur- 
tained Ark. 

2. 

"  Tell  me  thy  Name,"  the  wrestling  Jacob  cries  : 
"  Why  dost  thou  ask  my  Name  ?  "  the  Word  re- 
plies. 

And  Jacob  spake,  o'erawecl— 
"  This  place  is  Peniel :  I  saw  the  face  of  God." 

3- 

"  Thy  name  no  more  henceforth  shall  Jacob  be, 
But  prince  of  God,  for  thou  hast  power  with  Me — " 

So  spake  that  tongue  of  flame  ; 
And  Israel  knew  'twas  God,  even  from  his  own 
new  name. 


THE   SAVIOUR.  37 

4- 

Saviour  and  God  !  a  mystic  name  that  weaves 
Both  words  in  one,  the  Son  of  Nun  receives 

As  leader  of  God's  band — 

Where  Moses  could  not  lead — into  the  Promised 
Land. 

5- 

Yet,  on  that  Paschal  Eve,  at  Canaan's  door, 
Comes  the  true  Captain  of  God's  host.     Before 

That  Joshua  divine 
The  meaner  Joshua  kneels,  a  shadow  and  a  sign. 

6. 

Comes  the  true  Joshua  now,  the  Virgin's  Son, 
That  Saving  Name  of  the  Anointed  One 

Unfolds  prophetic  art  ; 

And  Mary  kept  such  things  and  pondered  in  her 
heart. 

7- 

Back  on  the  Pentateuch  like  morning's  fire 
His  coming  flashes  light ;  and  David's  lyre, 

Like  Moses'  face  that  shined, 
Glows  with  the  Saviour's  name  in  mystic  words 
enshrined. 

8. 

As  mountains  dull  thro'  all  the  silent  night 
Glitter  at  dawn  and  show  their  crests  in  light, 

So  everywhere  that  Name 

Forth  from  the  prophets  starts,  as  in  the  Day- 
star's  flame. 


SCRIPTURE   TOKENS. 

WHEN  Moses  is  read  the  veil  is  upon  their  hearts. 

SOME  fail  Messiah's  radiant  signs  to  see 

In  each  prophetic  scroll 
Which  the  old  rabbins  of  the  Law  unroll. 

They  read  the  page  of  mystic  history, 
The  flaming  Psalm,  or  Canticle  benign, 
As  though  'twere  human  lore,  and  not  divine. 

Forgive  poor  Israelites  when  souls  baptized 

God's  glorious  Word  explore, 
To  grope  and  feel  their  way  and  find  no  more 

Than  the  blind  leaders  of  the  circumcised, 
Where  Israelites-indeed  with  rapture  scan 
The  Son  of  God,  the  promised  Son  of  Man. 

So  everywhere  th'  anointed  eye  descries 

A  greater  Solomon, 
A  nobler  David,  the  Almighty  One 
Whom  Abraham  saw  with  Faith's  uplifted  eyes. 
For  not  in  feasts  alone,  but,  day  by  day. 
The  Scripture,  as  with  sunshine,   cheers'  our 
way. 


SCRIPTURE  TOKENS.  39 

And  me,  Christ's  footprints  striving  oft  to  trace, 

As  following  where  He  led, 
By  old  prophetic  symbols  comforted 
And  plodding  onward  as  with  patient  pace — 
Me  oft  a  rapture  seizes — when  I  view 
Some  veil  withdrawn — faith  making  all  things 
new. 


As  where  they  wash  the  glitt'ring  sands  for  gold 

In  bright  Golconda's  mines, 
Oft  'mid  the  sparkling  grains  a  diamond  shines, 
Which  the  well-shaken   sieve  with  greed   must 

hold; 

It  cannot  pass,  it  is  so  great  a  thing — 
And  then  'tis  claimed  for  tribute  to  the  king  : 

So,  when  some  word  in  Holy  Writ  shines  out, 
Dazzling  my  ardent  sight, 

As  'twere  that  Indian  gem,  the  Mount-of-Light, 
I  claim  it  for  my  King.     Tis  Christ's,  no  doubt; 

For  claim  it  lawfully  what  mortal  can  ? 

'Tis  far  beyond  the  measure  of  a  man. 


THE   DAY   OF   PALMS. 

THY  King  cometh  unto  thee  :  He  is  just  and  having  sal- 
vation :  lowly  and  riding  upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt,  the 
foal  of  an  ass. — ZECH  ix.  9. 


THE  Paschal-moon  proclaims  the  Feast  is  nigh, 

Whose  sign  in  heaven  the  faithful  still  obey  ; 
And  as  she  sails  through  airy  waves  on  high, 

Cleaving  the  clouds  that   break   like    ocean's 
spray, 

My  soul,  like  her,  finds  out  its  heavenly  way, 
And  walks  with  God.     I  taste  Siloam's  spring  ; 

While  the  high  service  of  this  holy  day, 
This  Feast  of  Palms,  prolongs  my  worshipping, 
And  all   that  scene  brings  back  of  Salem's  tri- 
umphing. 

2. 

A  light  on  Zion  of  the  Spring's  sweet  morn 
Is  glistening  from  the  Temple's  every  spire  ; 

An  early  crowd  through  each  high  gate  is  borne, 
And  thronging  pilgrims,  with  insane  desire, 
Hither  and  thither,  for  their  way  inquire, 

Urged  by  some  strange  alarm,  they  know  not 

why  ; 
The  truant  boy  runs  past,  with  soul  on  fire; 

And  Judah's  mothers,  as  the  surge  goes  by, 

Strain  o'er  the  long  highways  a  vaguely  vacant 
eye. 


THE  DAY   OF   PALMS.  4! 

3- 

"  Ho,  child  !   what  makes  thee  from  thy  tasks 

to-day  ?  " 
"  Nay,  blame  me  not,  thou  reverend  Saddu- 

cee, 

The  world  goes  out  to  meet  Him,  for  they  say 
The  Nazarene  draws  nigh.     Nay,  hark  !    'tis 

He 

Outside  the  Sheep-gate  ;  do  not  hinder  me  ! 
Thou,  too,  shouldst  see  Him.     With  a  word  He 

can 

Cast  out  the  devils,  still  the  raging  sea, 
And  lately  He  upcalled  a  buried  man 
That  had  been  four  days  dead  !      Hark  !  "  cried 
the  boy,  and  ran. 


4- 

All  this — while  bitter  Rabbins  heard  to  spurn, 
And    mocked    with    sneers    the   idly    prating 

wight — 
A  ruler  heard  and  felt  within  him  burn 

The  soul   that  communed  once  with  Christ  by 

night. 

'Twas  Nicodemus;  taught  to  frame  aright 
The  urchin's  babble,  its  intent  he  knew. 

Anon,  upon  the  Temple's  massive  height, 
Musing  and  lonely,  stood  that  noble  Jew  ; 
There    let    us    stand    with   him,    and    all    the 
pageant  view. 


42  THE   DAY   OF   PALMS. 

5- 

Along  the  vale,  and  clown  green  Olivet, 

Judaea's  peasants  come  in  straggling  throng  ; 
And  one  among  them  on  a  beast  is  set, 
In  lowly  state,  yet  passing  meek  along. 
Loudly  they  chaunt  ;  and    now  the  mellowed 

song, 
By  starts,  upon  the  fitful  breeze  upswells. 

Unwonted  strains  the  echoing  cliffs  prolong  ; 
That  rapt  hosanna,  'mid  Moriah's  dells, 
Alike  strange  things  recalls  and  stranger  things 
foretells. 

6. 

Yestreen  the  Sabbath  closed.     To-day  the  rocks 
Resound  with    bleatings  ;    from    the    emptied 

fold 

The  little  lambs,  in  droves  and  frighted  flocks, 
Are  led  to  bleed  like  Abel's  lamb  of  old. 
Another  Lamb  comes  with  them;  and  behold  ! 
While  bitter  herbs  are  for  the  Paschal  bought, 

Tokens  abound,  and  symbols  manifold, 
That  ne'er  before  unleavened  bread  was  sought, 
Or  hyssop  from    the  wall,  with  like   fulfilment 
fraught. 

7- 
For  yonder  crowd  upsends  the  very  word 

That  long  agone  was  heard  from  Zachary, 
Bidding  Jerusalem  behold  her  Lord, 

And  promising  His  coming  thus  should  be 

Majestical,  in  meek  humility. 


THE   DAY   OF   PALMS.  43 

Hosanna  !     Yes,  the  very  stones  outcry; 
And  shall  the  tribes  of  Jacob  sullenly 
Refuse  hosannas,  when,  before  their  eye, 
The  Son  of  David  comes,  and  God  Himself  draws 
nigh  ? 

8. 

'Tis  thy  last  Paschal,  Salem  ;  fallings  fed 

And  turtle-doves  anon  shall  cease  to  bleed; 
For  he  that  thus  to  sacrifice  is  led 

Is  Abra'm's  Lord  and  Eve's  expected  Seed. 
He  that  makes  all  things  new  for  human  need 
Comes  like  the  sheep  before  her  shearers  dumb 

To  bear  the  thorny  crown  and  barren  reed  ; 
Yes,  this  is  He — amid  the  city's  hum, 
The  patient  Paschal  Lamb   that   sayeth — Lo,  I 
come. 

9- 
Though    speechless    He,    thus,    to    the    hurtling 

crowd 
Whispers   the   Spirit  ;    while  from  palm   and 

bay 
They   tear   green    spoils    to    bear,    before    Him 

bowed, 

And  fragrant  things  to  strew  His  royal  way: 
And  clambering  youth  wave  branches  freshly 

&ay. 

Of  peaceful  olive  o'er  the  Prince  of  Peace. 

Oh,  Paradise  !  so  waves  each  palmy  spray 
Thy  shining  legions  bear,  in  sweet  release 
Where  swells  the  Paschal  Hymn  that  nevermore 
shall  cease. 


44  THE   DAY    OF   PALMS. 

IO. 

All  this,  the  while,  full  many  a  faithless  eye 
From    roof  and   terrace,    faithless   still,  hath 

seen  ; 
And  dull  Herodians,  trembling  at  the  cry 

Of  Pilate's  minions,  seek  what  this  may  mean. 
For  now,  emerging  from  the  deep  ravine, 
The  pomp    hath    passed   within    the    ponderous 

gate. 

From  porch  and  jealous  lattice  forth  they  lean, 
Mother  and  maiden ;  hoary  fathers  wait, 
Uplifting  shrivelled    hands,  to  view  this    kingly 
state. 


"Back,  brawling  slave.     While   Cassar    is   your 

king 

This  shall  not  be,"  a  mailed  centurion  said, 
And  struck  to  earth  a  youth,  that,  clamouring 
He  knew  not  what,  his  errant  comrades  led. 
"  What  next  ?  "  a  Levite  breathed,  and  shook 

his  head ; 
A  Roman  knight  came  prancing  by  and  sneered; 

A  flaunting  Pharisee  deep  curses  shed 
On  vulgar  skulls,  whileas  a  lawyer  leered  ; 
And   close    at   hand — 'twas    He — the   Nazarene 
appeared. 


The  foal  unloosed  from  Judah's  vine  he  rides, 
But  low  derision  frights  the  stumbling  beast. 


THE   DAY    OF   PALMS.  45 

One  cries  :  "  A  cross  is  scored  on  asses'  hides  :  " 
"  Yes,    mark     that    token    well,"    responds   a 

priest. 

"  Nay.  father  !  so  'twas  prophesied,  at  least, 
Our    King    should    ride,"    rejoined    one    gentle 

tongue. 
Twas  hers  that  poured  the  spikenard   at  the 

feast, 

And  o'er  His  feet  with  streaming  tresses  hung, 
That,  much  forgiven,  loved   much,  and  thus  to 
Jesus  clung. 

13- 
Stand  thou  within  this  portal,  and  thine  eyes 

Shall  see  Melchizedek,  of  ancient  clay. 
Lo  !  on  the  ass's  foal,  in  lowliest  guise, 

The  Man  that  is  God's  fellow  !  Breathless  stay, 
And  wait  with  throbbing  heart  till  comes  this 

way 
The  Man  of  Sorrows.     Yes,  He  draweth  near. 

O  God  !  I  cannot  look  without  dismay : 
His  youth  is  old,  and  on  His  cheek  the  tear 
Hath  early  worn   full  deep  the  marks  of  many  a 
year. 

H- 
Mercy  and  Majesty  !  I  see  God's  face 

In  this  the  Son  of  Man.     Divinest  thought 
Hath  in  His  front  its  unmistaken  trace, 

And    His   mild    eye   with    Love   immense    is 

fraught, 

While   the   shorn    lamb   is    thus  to  slaughter 
brought, 


d6  THE  DAY   OF   PALMS. 

And  bulls  of  Basan  roar  with  maddened  men. 
Joy  lights  the  scribe's  dark  brow  to  see  Him 

caught 

In  toils  full  deftly  spread.     Why  thus,  again, 
Where  late  they  took  up  stones,  seeks  He   their 

wolfish  den  ? 

15- 
"  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David  !  "     Yes, 

The    shouting    people    know    not    what    they 

mean  ; 
Yet  oft  the  voice  of  man  doth  God's  express, 

And  as  o'er  chaos  moved  the  Dove  serene, 

So  oft  in  tumult  is  the  Spirit  seen. 
Hosanna  !  let  the  Temple  open  wide 

Her  golden  gates,  thrice-blessed  Nazarene, 
To  welcome  Thee,  whom  prophets  glorified; 
For  Shiloh  is  thy  name;  the  sceptre  thine  beside. 

16. 

So  to  His  Temple  came  the  Holy  One  ; 

And  He  who  heeded  not  the  people's  cheers, 
When  lisping  babes  proclaim  Him  David's  Son, 

How  tenderly  their  infant  tongues  He  hears  ! 

His  kindly  voice  their  cherub  voices  cheers, 
And,     while     blaspheming    priests    with    bitter 
tongue 

Repress  the  chorus,  lo  !  with  loving  tears 
He  owns  their  homage,  long  by  seers  fore-sung, 
The  perfect  praise  and  pure  of  babes  and  suck- 
lings young. 


THE   DAY   OF   PALMS.  47 

17- 

Nor  marvel  thou  if  on  the  backs  abhorr'd 

Of    thieves,    that    chaffer'c!    in    the    House  of 

Prayer, 

Sounded  the  threshings  of  that  whip  of  cord, 
Proclaiming     that    the    Temple's    Lord    was 

there  : 

So  Judah's  Lion  riseth  from  his  lair. 
Meanwhile  the  Lamb  in  all  His  features  shone, 
And  that  same  hour,  more  wont  man's  woes 

to  bear, 

He  healed  the  sick,  assuaged  the  sufferer's  moan, 
Leper  and  blind  and  lame — all  sorrows  but  His 
own. 

18. 

Oh  !  Lamb  of  God,  that  tak'st  our  sins  away, 

So  moved  the  Infinite  within  Thy  breast, 
With  myst'ries  from  before  Creation's  Day, 

Thus  to  take  part  in  our  poor  world's  unrest  ; 

For  our  relief  to  be  Thyself  distressed, 
For  man's  release  to  be  the  victim  bound  ! 

Trembling,  I  worship,  my  Redeemer  blest; 
For  not,  like  Thomas,  would  I  probe  Thy  wound, 
Or  that  abyss  explore  whose  fathom  ne'er  was 
found. 

19. 

Yet   bid    me    meet   Thee,    from    the    tomb  un- 
sealed, 
And  walking  to  Emmaus  ;  like  a  coal 


48  THE   DAY    OF   PALMS. 

To  feel  my  heart  burn  in  me,  when  reveal'd 
I   see   the    Law's   dread    page,    the    prophet's 

scroll, 

And  trace  Thy  tokens  down  from  Eden's  goal : 
For  thus  is  purged  from   rheums  and  scales  as 

vile 

Man's  skeptic  eye,  and  parables  unroll 
And    Psalms    unfold    Thy    Name  —  each  weary 

mile 

Of  those  that  walk   with  Thee  to  brighten  and 
beguile. 

20. 
But    lo  !     the    Paschal     moonbeam     from    the 

East 

On  Kedron's  rill  sheds  holy  influence  bright ; 
Now  cleanse  their  platters  Pharisee  and  priest, 
Their     hearts     fermenting    still    with    Cain's 

despite, 

Their  leaven  of  malice  taints  the  legal  rite, 
For  Joseph's  breth'ren  hate  him.     He  afar 

Hath  gone  where  Martha's  kindly  lamp  gives 

light, 

And  Mary  listens  with  enrapt  Lazar, 
Till  shines  o'er  Bethany  once  more  the  Morning 
Star. 


LEAVEN. 

NOT  the  leaven  of  bread.— ST.  MATT.  xvi.  12. 
I. 

THE  moon  is  full,  the  moon  shines  fair  ; 
The  feast  is  nigh  ;  of  leaven  beware  ! 
Unleavened  bread  be  Judah's  care. 

2. 

One  crumb  of  leaven,  it  taints  the  whole 
So  reads  the  great  Law-giver's  scroll, 
Confirm 'd  by  Sinai's  thunder-roll. 

3- 

Ye  sons  of  Jacob  stand  aloof 
From  Gentile  tables  ;  make  sure  proof 
Of  house  and  home  from  floor  to  roof. 

4 

Scour  cup  and  platter.     Leave  no  trace  ; 
Scrape,  purge  and  every  spot  efface, 
Lest  leaven  be  there,  so  bad  and  base  ! 

5- 

Outside  so  clean,  but  all  within 
Fermenting  malice,  crime  and  sin  ; 
So  did  th*  unleavened  clays  begin. 

6. 

The  leaven  of  bread  is  put  aside, 
But  envy,  hate,  and  guile  abide, 
For  Jesus  must  be  crucified  ! 


50  LEAVEN. 

7- 

They  would  not  enter  Pilate's  hall  : 
Twould  leaven  and  defile  them  all. 
Horrours,  -to  think  of  such  a  fall  ! 


So  taught  the  scribes,  and  wonder  we 
Such  blind  and  senseless  rites  to  see  : 
We  marvel  at  the  Pharisee. 

9 

We  marvel  ;  but  ourselves,  the  while, 
Doth  naught  of  that  old  leav'n  defile  ? 
Of  malice  naught— nor  hate,  nor  guile  ? 


How  dare  we,  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
With  Thee  our  Passover  to  keep, 
Unpurified  from  stains  as  deep  ? 

ii. 

Gracious  the  Lent  and  blest  the  week, 
]f  steadfast,  and  in  duty  meek, 
Sincerity  and  truth  we  seek. 

12. 

So  may  we  joy  to  keep  the  Feast, 
From  chains  of  sin  and  shame  released, 
With  Thee  our  Prophet,  King,  and  Priest. 


THE  WELL-SPRING. 

THEN  Israel  sang  this  song,  Spring  up,  O  Well. — NUMB. 
xxi.  17. 

I. 

THE  great  Law-giver  smote  the  Rock  : 
Forth  gushed  the  waters  at  the  shock, 
And    Israel    drank  the  wave,  as  'twere  a  shep- 
herd's flock  : 
Spring  up,  O  Well  ! 

2. 

Nor  ceased  that  Rock  to  slake  their  thirst  ; 
It  followed  them  as  at  the  first. 
Where'er  they  went  afresh  the  Rock  would  burst: 
Spring  up,  O  Well  ! 

3- 

No  servile  toil  to  dig  the  sands  ! 
But  nobles,  with  their  sceptred  hands 
Struck  the    parched  soil    and  spake  their  mild 
commands  : 

Spring  up,  O  Well  ! 

4- 

Their  princes  pierced  the  arid  plain, 
And  gushed  the  hidden  springs  amain  ; 
While  Israel's  daughters  danced  and  sang  the 
strain — 

Spring  up,  O  Well  ! 


52  THE   WELL-SPRING. 

5- 

That  Rock  was  Christ  the  Crucified  ; 
Nor,  till  the  soldier  pierced  His  side, 
Knew  they  what  Well  of  Life  it  signified  : 
Spring  up,  O  Well  !. 

6. 

And  still  along  Life's  desert  way 
That  Rock  yet  follows  us  each  day  : 
We  ope  that  streaming  font  where'er  we  pray— 
Spring  up,  O  Well  ! 

7- 

The  babe  that  to  the  font  they  bring 
Invokes  again  the  hidden  Spring  ; 
Those  rosy  lips,  had  they  but  words,  would  sing 
Spring  up,  O  Well ! 


The  priest,  that  in  the  utmost  lands 
Before  the  Christian  altar  stands, 
Says,  o'er  the  crimson'd  cup  uplifting  hands — 
Spring  up,  O  Well  ! 

9- 

Oh!  then,  to  cleanse  my  soul  begin, 
Bath  of  my  soul,  from  shame  and  sin  : 
And  that  I  thirst  no  more,  spring  up  within  ; 
Spring  up,  O  Well  ! 


A  HYMN  OF  FAITH. 

How  are  the  dead  raised  up  ?  and  with  what  body  do  they 
come  ?— i  COR.  xv.  35. 

How  can  these  things  be  ? — ST.  JOHN,  iii.  9. 

I  do  not  exercise  myself  in  great  matters  which  are  too 
high  for  me.  — Ps.  cxxxi  2. 


THERE  are,  like  that  old  Pharisee  by  night, 
Who  talk,  in  darkness,  with  the  Light  of  Light, 
Answering,  like  cuckoos,  to  each  mystery — 
How  can  it  be  ? 


2. 

How  are  the  dead  raised  up? — as  'twere  in  strife 
With  Him,  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  ; 
As  if  no  mystery  to  sight  and  thought 
Were  daily  brought  ! 

3- 

But  me,  content,  the  Psalmist's  rule  restrains, 
And  from  presumptuous  words  my  soul  refrains, 
Happy  may  I  but  live,  all  undefined, 
A  weaned  child. 


54  A    HYMN   OF    FAITH. 

4- 

For  base,  at  best,  that  impudence  of  doubt, 
That  mocks  the  Infinite,  with  searching  out ; 
As  if  Who  wrought  of  Nature  the  deep  plan 
Were  weak  as  Man. 

5- 

I  would  not  be  more  wise  than  what  is  writ, 
In  things  that  are  too  high  for  human  wit, 
Sublimer  far  to  own  th'  unbounded  Vast 
Around  us  cast  ; 

6. 

Where  oft,  like  men  of  lore  who  read  the  face 
Of  spangled  Night,  I  seem  to  feel  in  space 
New  worlds,  that  were  not  made  for  mortal  eye, 
To  Faith  draw  nigh. 

7- 

Nor  would  I  follow  where,  if  man  hath  trod, 
Or  mounted  as  on  waxen  wings  to  God, 
Perchance    he  ventured  towards   the    throne — 
too  near 

For  holy  fear. 


There  is  a  holiest  of  the  holies—  where 
The  seraphs  veil  their  faces,  nor  would  dare 
Look  curious  upward  :  for  the  Holy  One 
Outshines  the  sun. 


A    HYMN   OF   FAITH.  55 

9- 

Stone-blind  the  hard — too  bold  of  mind  and  eyes 
Who  there  presumed  in  fancy's  flight  to  rise — 
Stone-blind  he  turn'd  :  yet  sung  of  Eden's  prime 
In  dream  sublime. 

10. 

Perchance  he  err'd,  ev'n  dreaming,  so  to  blend 
With  truth  his  fable,  as  if  truth  to  mend. 
Nor  yet,  like  Dante,  would  I  pass  below, 
Where  spirits  go. 

II. 

Not  me  the  sibyl's  bough  or  lips  should  win 
Profanely  venturing,  with  the  dead  in  sin, 
To  follow  Virgil  and  the  Florentine 
'Mid  depths  unseen. 

12. 

For  oh  !  what  better  things,  from  pride  concealed 
Glorious  and  vast  are  to  the  meek  revealed  : 
How  oft  of  Heaven  we  gain  what  we  forego 
By  stooping  low. 

13- 

How  oft,  in  God's  stupendous  book,  unroll 
Tokens  of  things  unseen,  that  lift  my  soul 
Out  of  earth's  dross,  beyond  this  life  of  sense, 
To  realms  immense  ! 


5^  A    HYMN    OF    FAITH. 

H- 

How  sweet  in  childlike  love  to  meet  Thy  test ; 
Because  Thyself  I  know,  to  trust  the  rest  ; 
Because  Thou  mak'st  eternity  mine  own, 
Much  to  postpone. 

15- 

Not  less  where  Science  bids  her  tapers  burn 
It  me  delights  with  her  to  muse  and  learn, 
Discov'ring  more  and  more,  in  Nature's  plan, 
That  humbles  man. 

16. 
For  He  who  all  things  made,  makes  all  things 

new  ; 
Makes  bare  His  works  to  prove  His  word  most 

true  ; 

Upbraids  our  sloth  and  saith  to  sense  and  sight  : 
Let  there  be  Light. 

17- 

Hail  !  childlike  Wisdom,  hail  Elect  of  men 
Who  range  through  space,  as  'twere  with  angel's 

ken, 

Yet  own  how  all  that  makes  progressive  lore 
Faith  knows  before. 

18. 

A  Holy  Ark  fast  closed  !     'Neath  Nature's  lid, 
What  worlds  of  wonder  unattained  lie  hid  ! 
Sure,  of  all  knowledge  and  all  truth — the  key 
Is  knowing  Thee  : 


A   HYMN   OF  FAITH.  57 

I9. 

Is  knowing  Thee,  of  Love  the  Bleeding  Lamb; 
Is  knowing  Thee,  th'  unsearchable  I  AM  ; 
Is  in  the  soul  thy  seven-fold  gifts  to  shrine, 
Spirit  Divine. 

20. 
Thine    the    true  Science,    Thine   the   rainbows 

bright 

On  Newton's  glass  where  falls  one  ray  of  light ; 
For  God  is  Light,  and  light  in  reason's  noon 
Is  found  triune. 

21. 

Hail,  star-eyed  Science  !     Welcome  to  the  choir 
Where  saints  with  Seraphim  attune  the  lyre  ! 
Welcome  the  seer  august  who  comes  to  prove 
God's  earth  doth  move  : 


Whose   reverent    thought,  baptiz'd   in    heavenly 

dews, 

Not  less  the  Moving  Hand  discerns  and  views; 
Discovers,  as  he  scans  the  starry  zone, 
That  naught  is  known  : 

23- 

Naught  but  faint  whispers  from  Eternity  : 
While  dark  and  deep  abides  the  shoreless  sea, 
Where  gleans  the  sage    some  .shells    from  Na- 
ture's verge, 

Hard  by  its  surge. 


58  A   HYMN   OF    FAITH. 

24. 

Thus  let  us  deal  with  matter  as  'tis  meet. 
Tis  naught  but  ashes  under  Faith's  firm  feet, 
Naught  but  the  nest  where  grows  the  Phoenix 
wing 

Soon  forth  to  spring  : 

25- 

Naught  but  the  cottage  frail  of  moulded  clay 
Whose  shatter'd  walls  let  in  some  light  of  clay  ; 
Where  yearns  the  soul  in  life  and  light  to  soar, 
Forevermore. 


THE    ROSE    OF  SHARON. 


I  AM  the  Rose. — CANT.  ii.  i. 


SOME  say  Crusaders,  in  Gethsemane, 

Found  blood  red  flowers  that  now  grow  every- 
where ; 
But  me,  each  thorny  rose  that  scents  the  air, 

Minds  of  that  gory  crown  on  Calvary. 

2. 

Perhaps  'tis  true,  from  spicy  seeds  that  fell 

At  Christ's  embalming,  'round  the  rocky  door, 
Even  as  the  Saviour  to  His  rest  they  bore, 

Sprung  amaranth  and  fragrant  asphodel. 

3- 

Howe'er  it  be,  I  deem  since  time  began 

The  flowers  were  parables  to  wounded  hearts  : 
And  still  their  silent  fragrance  often  starts 

Refreshing  tears  and  speaks  in  signs  to  man. 

4- 

They  rise  in  beauty,  at  our  Easter  tide, 
From  nothingness  asserting  life  anew, 
Rise  in  all  colours  bursting  into  view, 

And  quickened  every  one  because  it  died. 


60  THE  ROSE  OF   SHARON, 

5- 

I  know  their  meaning.     To  my  gladsome  ear 
The  voice  of  God  seems  most  articulate : 
"  Ev'n  so,"  it  tells  me,  "  let  the  dead  await 

My  call  to  rise  :  in  time  they  too  shall  hear." 


And  shall  His  children  then  like  earth-worms 
grope, 

And  bred  of  earth  with  earth  contented  be  ? 

Nay,  dear  Redeemer,  Heaven  is  ours  in  Thee, 
And  though  we  die  our  flesh  shall  rest  in  Hope. 


HOLY-WEEK. 

THIS  that  is  glorious  is  His  apparel  .   .   .  Mighty  to  save. 
— ISAIAH,  Ixiii.  i. 


WHO  comes  from  Edom  ?     Who  with  garments 

dyed, 

As  from  the  battle  comes  the  conqueror  ?. 
Thus,  'mid  confused  noise,  the  prophet  spied 
Far  off  Immanuel's  Day,  the  crimson  gore — 
The  battle  and  the  victor-spoils  He  bore. 
Can  this  the  Lion  be — this  snow-white  Lamb, 
That   comes   from    Bozrah  ;  while    with    wild 

uproar, 

The  crowds,  around  Him,  lift  the  wavy  palm, 
And  shout,  for  David's  Son,  his  sweet  hosanna- 
psalm  ? 

2. 

Can  this  be  He,  the  Mighty  One  to  save, 

Who  meek  and  lowly  rides  the  ass's  foal  ? 
Such  were  the  tokens  Zechariah  gave, 

But  where  the  hero  of  fsaiah's  scroll  ? 

The  Victor  in  the  Victim— O  my  soul, 
The  Lion  in  the  Lamb  have  faith  to  see. 

And  hear'st  thou  not,  as  'twere  the  thunder's 

roll, 

The  voice  prophetic  that  proclaims — 'tis  He, 
Who  comes  His  war  to  wage,  foretelling  Victory? 


62  HOLY-WEEK. 

3- 

Thus  Faith  discerns,  in  prophecy  twofold, 
The  Hero-King,  the  Lamb  of  lowliest  guise  : 

Nor  marvels  that. his  signs  are  doubly  told, 
Whose  many  crowns  are  as  the  starry  skies  : 
Whose  many  wounds  are  countless  mysteries. 

So  Judah's  lion  is  his  title,  there, 

Where  stands  on  Zion,  full  of  wounds  and  eyes, 

The  Lamb  once  slain  :  the  Lamb  our  sins  to  bear, 

Nor  less  the  Lion  too,  our  dragon-foe  to  tear. 

4- 
For  this  is  He,  disclosed  in  after  day, 

On   the   white   horse   who   rode,   with  eyes  of 

flame  : 

Him  all  the  armies  of  the  heavens  obey, 
Whom  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  kings  they 

claim. 

The  seer  of  Patmos  saw  them  as  they  came 
On    snow-white  steeds,  and  robes  as  white  are 

theirs. 

Faithful  and  true  His  Everlasting  Name  : 
And  diadems  upon  His  head  He  wears, 
Supreme  o'er  thousand  thrones,  who  God's  own 
glory  shares. 


MESSIAH. 

BECAUSE  of  the  savour  of  Thy  good  ointments  ;  Thy  Name 
is  as  ointment  poured  forth  :  therefore  do  the  virgins  love 
Thee. — CANT.  i.  3. 

I. 

No  name  but  Thine,  thou  bleeding  Lamb, 
From  earth's  foundations  known  ; 

No  name  but  Thine,  the  great  I  AM, 
Is  faith's  sure  corner-stone. 

The  martyr's  crown,  the  victor's  palm, 

And  heaven's  eternal  Paschal  Psalm, 
Exalt  that  name  alone. 


Thy  many  ointments,  Priest  and  King, 

Messiah  Thee  proclaim  ; 
Thee,  Samuel's  oil  of  hallowing, 

On  David's  youth  that  came. 
Jacob's  anointed  Stone — we  sing, 
That  Rock,  the  Christ,  prefiguring 
Thine  own  sweet-savoured  name. 

3- 

And  many  crowns,  dear  Lord,  are  Thine 
Be  crowned  with  Love  to-day  ! 

The  virgins  love  Thy  names  divine  ; 
The  pure  in  heart  are  they. 


64  MESSIAH. 

At  Simon's  feast,  where  guests  recline, 
While  breaks  this  loving  heart  of  mine, 
All  this  the  nard  shall  say. 

4- 

So  Mary  mused — and  on  His  head 
Poured  forth  the  sweet  perfume  ; 

Silent  her  lips,  but  all  was  said 
When  fragrance  filled  the  room. 

She  gave  it  for  His  burial  dread, 

Whose  Name,  like  precious  ointment  shed. 
May  sweeten  ev'n  the  tomb. 

5- 
The  virgins  love  Thee.     Simon's  board 

Shall  know  with  love  how  deep. 
For  all  who  love  Thy  Name,  is  poured 

This  balm  Thy  locks  to  steep  ; 
Ere  thorns  entwine  Thy  brow  adored, 
Ere  'gainst  Thy  flock  awakes  the  sword, 
Oh,  Shepherd  of  the  sheep  ! 

6. 

It  fills  the  room  ;  it  fills  the  earth  ; 

Where'er  the  Promised  Seed 
Is  worshipp'd,  in  His  dew  of  birth, 

His  Gospel  tells  her  deed 
Such  meet  memorial  of  her  worth, 
In  Paschal  fast  and  Paschal  mirth 
The  willing  nations  read. 


MESSIAH.  65 

7- 

For  oh  !  death  reign'd,  and  Nature's  moan 

From  babes  and  children  came  ; 
From  kings  and  cotters,  born  to  groan, 

From  poor  and  proud  the  same. 
Till  He  the  Mighty  to  atone, 
Made  Life  and  Light  and  glory  known, 
By  His  Anointed  Name. 


Uprose  His  Cross  !     To  mortal  eyes 

The  Dayspring  after  Night  : 
So  doth  the  Morning  Star  arise 

Where  wand'rers  hail  its  light. 
Messiah's  Name  and  Sacrifice, 
The  Christian  altar  glorifies, 

That  shines  to  Faith  so  bright 
5 


GETHSEMANE. 

THOUGH  He  were  a  Son,  yet  learned  He  obedience  by  the 
things  which  He  suffered. — HEBREWS,  v.  8. 


'MlD  olive  groves  the  lantern  gleams, 
And  water'd  glades  of  Kedron's  streams  ; 
With  sword  and  staves  and  front  austere 
The  lawless  band  by  night  draw  near, 
While  Jesus,  on  the  bended  knee, 
Suffers  in  lone  Gethsemane. 

2. 

Oh  !  stand  aside  ;  draw  not  too  nigh — 
Tis  not  for  mortal  ear  nor  eye 
That  conflict  or  that  prayer  to  scan. 
'Tis  not  for  mind,  or  thought  of  man  : 
An  angel  stoops  to  bear  Him  up, 
While  Jesus  drains  the  Father's  cup. 

3 

The  Man  of  Sorrows— breathes  His  moan 

His  pangs  unknowable,  unknown  ! 

A  Son,  the  well-beloved,  but  still 

Content  to  do  His  Father's  will, 

Thrice  crying  to  the  Holy  One, 

"  Father,  Thy  will  not  mine  be  done." 


GETHSEMANE.  67 

4- 

Thus  in  His  agonizing  svvound 
His  bloody  sweat  bedews  the  ground, 
And  perfect  made  by  human  fears 
The  Man  of  Sorrows  and  of  Tears, 
Of  brother  men  all  tears  can  share, 
Our  pangs  can  heal,  our  guilt  may  bear. 

5- 

But  clouds  have  dimmed  the  Paschal  moon  ; 
Of  night  draws  nigh  the  sombre  noon  ; 
Heard  in  the  fear  His  soul  that  frayed 
The  Shepherd,  where  His  sheep  are  laid, 
Draws  nigh,  the  drowsy  flock  to  seek, 
Of  spirit  strong,  of  flesh  so  weak. 

6. 

"  Could  ye  not  watch  with  me  one  hour  ? 
But,  oh  !  of  darkness  'tis  the  power, 
Sleep  while  ye  may  and  take  your  rest. 
But,  nay  !  no  more  by  sloth  oppress'd, 
Wake,  let  us  go  !     For  lo  !  at  hand 
Is  he  who  leads  their  armed  band." 


7- 

With  swords  and  staves  they  come — and  this 
Is  he  who  gives  the  treach'rous  kiss  ! 
"  Whom  seek  ye  ?"     "Jesus!"     "  I  am  He, 
Let  then  my  harmless  flock  go  free." 


68  GETHSEMANE. 

The  Shepherd  smitten — flees  the  flock, 
And  trembles  he  surnamed  a  Rock. 


Lo  !  prompt  to  fight  with  flesh  and  blood, 
He  strikes — to  make  his  promise  good, 
Yet  quails — that  bleeding  ear  restored, 
When  Jesus  bids — "  Put  up  thy  sword." 
Oh  !  slow  to  learn  not  steel  to  bare, 
In  faith's  stern  fight  of  watch  and  prayer  ! 

9- 

Behold  the  Lamb  to  slaughter  led, 
By  wolves  athirst  His  blood  to  shed, 
And  mute  as  Paschal  victims  are, 
While  Peter  follows  Him— afar  ! 
Far  off  he  follows  Christ,  and  all 
Like  him  who  halt  like  him  must  fall. 


THE    BETRAYER. 

THEY  were  exceeding  sorrowful,  and  began  every  one  of 
them  to  say  unto  Him,  Lord,  is  it  I  ? — St.  MATT.  xxiv.  22. 


IF  you  fare  along  the  Rhine, 
When  the  moon  at  full  may  shine, 

Be  sure  to  halt  at  Speyer. 
And  when  lights  and  shadows  fall 
Hard  by  the  minster  wall, 
You  may  see  what  I  recall, 

And  admire. 

2. 

Admire,  tho'  rude  the  art, 
For  it  moved  my  inmost  heart, 

And  its  parable  I  felt. 
It  brought  to  mind  that  cry 
Of  apostles—"  Is  it  I  ?  " 
And  my  heart,  as  I  drew  nigh, 

Seemed  to  melt 

3- 

Of  the  river  from  afar 
No  murmur  came  to  jar, 

Of  the  nearer  town  no  hum. 


70  THE    HETRAYER. 

One  feels  'tis  holy  ground, 
'Mid  the  trees  and  shrubs  around, 
And  a  holy  awe  profound 
Strikes  you  dumb. 

4. 

On  a  knoll,  in  soft  moonlight, 
Lo  !  figures  that  affright, 

With  staves  and  swords  that  slay 
Climbing  on  they  seem  to  go, 
Seem  moving  to  and  fro, 
Like  robbers  creeping  slow, 

To  their  prey. 

5- 

Like  a  serpent's  cruel  coils 
They  wind  and  weave  their  toils 

Round  a  hillock  clad  with  palm  ; 
And  there,  with  strange  grimace, 
Stands  one  of  thievish  face, 
Who  points  with  finger  base 

At  the  Lamb. 

6. 

The  Lamb  of  God  I  scan, 
The  suffering  Son  of  Man, 

And  the  angel  hov'ring  o'er; 
As  He  sinks  on  bended  knee, 
Those  pangs  I  seem  to  see, 
Which,  all  for  men  like  me, 

Jesus  bore. 


THE  BETRAYER.  71 

7- 

Seen  of  angels  !     So  He  kneels, 
And  mine  the  guilt  He  feels, 

And  it  makes  me  sore  afraid  ; 
For  oh  !  that  serpent  old, 
His  arts  are  manifold, 
And  still  is  Jesus  sold, 

And  betrayed. 


0  Saviour,  but  for  grace, 

Is  the  human  heart  so  base, 

So  prompt  to  go  amiss  ! 
As  he  stands  upon  the  brink, 

1  look,  and  seem  to  shrink 
From  the  traitor,  when  I  think 

Of  his  kiss  ! 

9- 

Is  this  the  man  that  sate 
And  with  the  Saviour  ate 

The  supper,  ev'n  to-day  ! 
Whose  feet  He  washed,  unclean, 
That  hasted  from  the  scene, 
Swift  to  shed  His  blood,  I  ween, 

And  betray  ? 

10. 

From  a  heart  that  knows  no  guile. 
Who  turns  supremely  vile 

In  a  moment's  fiery  flame  ? 


72  THE   BETRAYER. 

Tis  habit,  nurs'd  full  long, 
Makes  the  last  temptation  strong, 
And  breeds  the  lust  of  wrong, 
With  its  shame. 


And  so  from  Holy  Writ 

Comes  this  warning,  fair  and  fit, 

To  the  heart  of  one  and  all  : 
Fear  and  tremble  to  begin  ; 
For  adding  sin  to  sin, 
As  gamesters  waste  to  win, 

So  men  fall. 

12. 

If  the  world  from  pole  to  pole 
One  might  gain,  but  lose  his  soul, 

What  the  profit  with  the  cost  ? 
Full  many  a  warning  word, 
Like  this  the  traitor  heard, 
For  pelf  that  sold  his  Lord, 

And  was  lost. 

13- 

And  oh  !  his  madden'd  mood, 
When  down  the  price  of  blood 

At  their  feet  he  dash'd  amain — 
Who  mock'd  with  scorn  and  hate, 
As  forth  he  rushed  to  fate; 
For  repentance  came  too  late, 

And  was  vain. 


THE    BETRAYER.  73 


But  I  smite  my  breast  and  cry, 
Holy  Jesus,  "  Is  it  I  ?" 

.  As  I  linger  long  and  gaze  ; 
God  be  merciful  to  me, 
For  not  the  Pharisee, 
But  the  publican  I'd  be, 
All  my  days. 

15 

Tis  mine  —  the  guilt  He  feels, 
'Neath  the  angel  as  He  kneels, 

Mine  His  Father's  mystic  frown 
Methinks  I  see  it  yet, 
That  brow  with  dew-drops  wet, 
And  beads  of  bloody  sweat, 

Dropping  down  ! 

1  6. 

Tho'  rude  and  crude  the  art, 
It  stamped  upon  my  heart 

Such  thoughts  like  coals  of  fire  : 
1  seem'd  indeed  to  see 
A  true  Gethsemane, 
As  by  chance  it  came  to  me, 

There  in  Speyer. 


THE    COUNCIL. 

LET  our  strength  be  our  justice. — WISDOM,  ii.  n. 


WHO  wrote  the   Book  of  Wisdom  ?     From  his 

pen 

Distill'd  the  ichor  of  tlie  prophets'  lore. 
What  Caiaphas  would  do,  he  shewed  before, 
And  how  they  slew  the  Just,  foresaw  with  keen- 
est ken. 

2. 

For    while    the    worldly    wise    proclaimed  their 

dream, 

Should  perfect  virtue  on  the  earth  appear, 
Him  all  mankind  would  worship  and  revere, 
What  of  the  human  heart  did  that  true  wisdom 
deem  ? 

3- 

Ev'n  Plato,  taught  by  Scriptures  of  the  Jew, 
Foretold  what  cruel  death  the  Just  should  die: 
If  seen  on  earth,  Him  they  would  crucify 

With  shame  and  scourging  :    this  the   sage   of 
Greece  foreknew. 


THE   COUNCIL.  75 

4 

Come  then,  pedestrian  muse,  while  I  transcribe 
From    Wisdom's  page  those  counsels  ot    the 

night 

By  forecast  written,  of  the  high-priests'  spite, 
With  scribe    and    Pharisee  and  chiefs  of  every 
tribe. 

5- 

Let  us  oppress  the  righteous  Man — they  cry, 
And  for  the  just  man  lie  in  wait,  because 
He  blames  us  for  transgressing  our  own  laws  ! 
He  is  not  of  our  sort,  and  sure  he  ought  to  die. 

6. 

And  contrary  to  all  our  ways  is  he  ; 
Rebukes  our  education  and  our  life  ; 
Child  of  the  Lord,  with  other  men  at  strife, 
Such    is   this    man    self-styled,   who  chicles   our 
infamy  ! 

7- 

As  filth  he  shuns  our  ways,  as  if  'twere  his 
Alone  to  know  the  Lord  !     He  seemeth  made 
Our   thoughts   to    challenge    and    our    deeds 

upbraid. 
We  cannot  bear  a  man  so  just,  forsooth,  as  this. 


Grievous  to  bear  the  fashion  of  his  ways 
Whose  life  is  not  like  ours.     If  he  is  gold 
Then  we  are  counterfeits  !     Who  can  behold 

A  man  so  strangely  just,  nor  hate  him  while  they 
gaze  ! 


76  THE    COUNCIL. 

9- 

God  is  his  Father  !     And  he  maketh  boast 
That  such  as  he  are  blessed  in  their  end  ! 
Ha  !  let  us  see — if  God  be  this  man's  friend — 

What  happens  in  his  end,  when  help  he  needeth 
most  ? 


Let  then  His  God  deliver  this  His  Son, 

If  He  will  have  Him — from  the  cross  and  rod  ! 
Blasphemer  !  if  He  be  the  Son  of  God, 

Then  let  the  Father  save  from  death  His  Holy 
One. 


ii. 

So  they  fulfil  what  law  and  prophet  saith; 
Such  things  did  they  imagine — self-deceived, 
And   blind  through  wickedness — such    things 

believed  ; 

Let  us  condemn  him  then,  they  said,  to  shameful 
death. 


12. 

Of  blameless  souls  they  loved  not  the  reward, 
Nor  knew  God's  mysteries  ;  nor  wages  sought 
Of  righteousness — but  death,  by  Satan  brought, 

While  lo  !  the  just  shall  live  immortal  with  the 
Lord. 


THE   COUNCIL.  77 

13- 

So  far  the  Book  of  Wisdom  ;  thus  they  spake, 
As  'twas  forewritten.     In  the  midnight  dark, 
They  wait  their  victim  with  their  band  :  and 

hark! 

They  come  with  clamours  rude,  the  welkin  that 
awake. 

14. 

Last  prophet  of  the  Jews — 'twas  Caiaphas 

Said — "  for   the   Jews,  'twas   good,    this    man 

should  die  : " 

Now,  let  the  people  hear  him  prophesy 
What  Romans  next  will  do  ;    for  so  'twill  come 
to  pass. 

IS- 

"  They  shall  come  hither  and   our  place  make 
void, 

And  take  away  our  Nation."     Even  so  ! 

In  Rome  that  arch  of  Titus  still  may  show 
How  soon  the  Romans  came  and  all  destroyed. 


CAIAPHAS. 

THE  high-priest  rent  his  clothes.— ST.  MATT.  xxvi.  65. 
I. 

NIGHT  in  the  cruel  high-priest's  hall 

And  night  his  soul  within  ! 
Of  Caiaphas — that  whited  wall, 

Who  hath  the  greater  sin, 
How  blood-stained  in  the  book  of  time 

The  page  that  doth  record 
His  deed  of  darkness  and  of  crime, 

Who  judged  his  judge  and  Lord. 

2. 
Go  read  how  meekly  him  before 

The  Lamb  of  Abel  stood  ; 
How  he  who  Aaron's  mitre  bore 

Could  shed  Messiah's  blood  : 
Mere  type  and  shadow  of  the  law 

He  scorns  the  substance  .true, 
And  God's  High-Priest,  whom  Abra'm  saw, 

This  priestly  traitor  slew. 

3- 
Aye,  read  that  oracle  of  flame, 

His  victim's  answer  dread  ; 
Adjured  in  great  Jehovah's  name, 

What  God's  co-equal  said  : 
Hereafter,  thou  who  judgest  Me 

Before  My  bar  shalt  stand, 


CAIAPHAS.  79 

Iii  clouds  the  Son  of  Man  shah  see 
Enthroned  at  God's  right  hand. 

4- 
The  high-priest  rent  his  clothes,  but  knew 

Not  half  that  rending  meant ; 
That  day,  the  temple  of  the  Jew, 

That  day,  its  veil  was  rent.  • 

His  shadowy  priesthood  thus  he  doffd 

With  that  symbolic  vest ; 
Melchizedek,  while  yet  he  scoffd 

Before  him  stood  confess'd. 

5- 
Now  Caiaphas  was  he  who  gave 

This  counsel — so  it  saith — 
The  people  of  the  Jews  to  save 

One  man  should  die  the  death. 
Like  Balaam's  beast  he  prophesied, 

Nor  knew  'twas  of  the  Lord  ; 
Not  of  himself  he  spake,  nor  lied, 

But  voiced  the  Spirit's  word. 

6. 
Then  let  the  Romans  come  ;  their  prey 

Their  eagles  may  consume  : 
The  carcass  let  them  bear  away, 

To  give  the  Living  room  : 
For  He  the  one  High-Priest  must  reign 

Whom  Caiaphas  made  known — 
The  Lamb  for  all  the  nations  slain, 

And  not  for  Jews  alone. 


PONTIUS   PILATE. 

THE  Priest  shall  make  an  Atonement  for  the  soul  that 
sinneth  ignorantly  and  for  the  stranger  that  sojourneth 
among  them.  — NUMB.  xv.  24-29. 

I. 
SOME  say  he  was  a  Teuton.     Where  the  vine 

Purples  the  hillsides  of  his  fatherland 
Were    bred    those    hinds,    they   say,  beside    the 

Rhine, 
Who   toss'd    the   dice,    with    red    remorseless 

hand, 

On  Jesu's  raiment.     These  His  corse  divine 
Watch'd  in  the  sepulchre  ;  a  brutal  band 
Pacing,  stern  sentries,  round  that  sealed  tomb, 
Their    shimmering    helmets    glittering    in    the 
gloom. 

2. 

It  may  be  so  ;  the  legend  suits  my  song. 

With  Pilate  came  they,  those  barbarians  bold, 
To  make  his  weak  dominion  sternly  strong 

And  quell  the  tribes  of  Jacob  in  their  hold  ; 
Those  tribes  so  fierce  against  the  Romans'  wrong, 

Untamed  and  turbulent  and  uncontroll'd, 
And  daring  oft  ev'n  Roman  chiefs  to  vex, 
While   Caesar's    yoke   weigh'd    heavy    on    their 
necks. 


PONTIUS   PILATE.  8 1 

3- 

With  these,  'twas  Pilate's  task  and  toil  austere 
To  make  Tiberius'  mastery  supreme  ; 

Nor  marvel  that  with  policy  severe 

He  scorned  their  superstitions  as  a  dream. 

Not  worse  than  other  Romans,  his  career 
Was  cruel  and  remorseless  in  its  scheme. 

Twas  policy  alike  for  Jew  and  Greek 

To  trample  on  the  proud  and  spare  the  meek. 

4- 
A  heathen  ;  but  where  Caiaphas  was  priest, 

And  Judas  an  apostle,  soft  should  be 
A  Christian's  sad  reproaches.     This  at  least 

Concede  to  Pilate  in  the  history 
Of  that  portentous  day,  that  bloody  feast, 

When  even  apostles  trembl'd  and  could  flee  : 
Not  .all,  perchance,  ignoble  was  his  mood, 
Who  strove  and  pleaded,  feared,  and  yet  with- 
stood. 

5- 
Stern,  tearless,  of  the  earth  so  earthy  all, 

Dragg'd  from  his  rest  at  day-break,  see  him 

tread 
Contemptuous  o'er  the  marbles  of  his  hall, 

Scorning  the  rabble  that  disturb'd  his  bed. 
Fierce  he  goes  forth,  impatient  at  their  call, 
And  lo  !  the  Lamb,  rope-bound  and  thief-like 

led, 

'Mid  priests  and  nobles  with  their  motley  crowd, 
Meekly  majestic  stands,  His  forehead  bowed. 
6 


82  PONTIUS   PILATE. 

6. 

Grand  in  his  awful  goodness,  lambkin  dumb 
Before  his  shearers — how  the  satrap  shrinks 

From  that  dejected  front,  amid  the  hum 

Of  voices  claiming  judgment.  Courage  sinks 

Before  his  v-ictim,  as  like  fiends  they  come, 
Clinch'd    fists   uplifted,   and    strange    tongues 
methinks, 

Greek,  Hebrew,  Latin  mingled.     Hear  their  cry  ! 

Can  Pilate  scruple  one  more  Jew  should  die  ? 

7- 

Now  opes  the  dreadful  drama  of  that  day  ! 
"Take  him,  and  judge  him  for  yourselves." 

He  turns 
As  one  contemptuous  from  their  hordes  away. 

Louder  they  clamour,  he  more  fiercely  spurns, 
While  thirsting  for  Messiah's  blood  they  say — 
"Not   ours    to    deal    the    shameful    death    he 

earns, 

Who  breaks  our  law  ;  and  then  'tis  thine  alone, 
'Gainst  Caesar's  rival,  to  uphold  the  throne." 


"  He  makes  himself  a  king  !  "  they  said.     'Twas 
meet 

The  son  of  David,  of  that  palace  floor, 
Should  tread  its  art  Mosaic  under  feet  ! 

There — never  stood  a  Nazarene  before  ; 
But  Pilate  leads  him  towards  his  judgment  seat, 

And  talks  with  him  apart,  where  arching  o'er 


PONTIUS    PILATE.  83 

The  glistening  pavement,  set  with  coloured  stones, 
Vaults    flamed    with    gold,    a    glory    meet    for 
thrones. 

9- 

"  Art  thon  a  king,  then  ?"  to  the  Lamb  serene 
His  judge  makes  question  ;  while,  instinct  with 

fear, 

His  eye  surveys  that  meek  yet  manly  mien. 
And  feels  'tis  strange  that  he  should  stand  so 
near 

9 

The  heir  of  Solomon.     He  hearkens  keen  : 

"Thou    sayest    it — Who  told  it  thee  ?  "     But 

hear — 
More  strange  those  words  that  followed,  when, 

forsooth, 
Of  truth    He  spake  !     Said    Pilate  :    "  What   is 

truth  ?" 

10. 
Think  of  that  moment,  when,  more  bright  than 

morn, 
Light  o'er  that  heathen  flash 'd,  and  left  him 

dazed. 
Echoes  within  his  breast  a  thought  new-born, 

As  on  that  awful  sufferer  he  gazed  : 
Yes — "  What  is  truth  ?  "  he  answered,  not  with 

scorn  ; 

From  Truth  incarnate,  turning  more  amazed, 
To  speak  God's  truth,  defiant  of  assault: 
Hear  him  proclaim,  "  I  find  in  him  no  fault." 


84  PONTIUS    PILATE. 


Comes  to  his  ear,  amid  their  wild  uproar, 
Herod's  foul  name.     Of  guilt  in  Galilee, 

They  charge  this  man  of  Nazareth  !     Full  sore 
The  hate  twixt  him  and  Herod  ;  yet,  thought  he, 

This  shall  make  peace  between  us  twain  once 

more. 
I'll  send  the  case  to  Herod  for  decree: 

"  Take  him  to  Herod,  then,"  if  so  ye  say. 

Frantic  they  hear  and  sullen  they  obey. 

12. 

Behold  "  that  fox"  !     To  his  hyaena-den 
They  drag  the  pallid  Jesus.     Bloody  sweat, 

And  those  long  hours  of  vvakefulness — and  then 
His  famishing  and  shiv'ring,  why  forget  ? 

These  have  already  marr'd  this  "scorn  of  men," 
This  patient  Man  of  sorrows.     Lo  !  'tis  set, 

The  court  of  Herod,  and  amid  their  bands, 

Silent,  while  they  make  mirth,  Messiah  stands. 

13- 

"No  answer  and  no  miracle,"  exclaim 
The  slaves  of  Herod  ;  "  let  him  give  us  sport." 

Yes,  "  turn  him  o'er  to  spitting  and  to  shame," 
The  tyrant  bids.     They  mock  his  mute  deport, 

And  men  of  war  deride  his  regal  fame  : 

"  Now,  send    him    back    to    Pilate's    meaner 
court, 

And  deck'd  in  robes  of  lustre  he  shall  go, 

Led  forth  with  laughter,  o'er  his  way  of  woe." 


PONTIUS    PILATE,  85 

14- 

Behold,  once  more  'round  Pilate  rings  their  call  ; 

Once  more  his  pride  confronts  their  rage,  alas  ! 
Peevish,  far  more  than  proud,  and  scorning  all 

He  sees  or  hears  ;  for  now  the  surging  mass 
Rages  like  stormy  tides  of  mire  and  gall. 

Resentful,  as  they  beg  for  Bar-Abbas. 
"  Not  Jesus,  but  the  robber  !  "  so  they  cried. 
"  But,  Jesus,  then  ?"     "  Let  him  be  crucified  !  " 

15- 

Pilate,  thy  time  has  come,  if  man  thou  art, 

To  show  thy  manhood  once,  if  nevermore  ! 
Nay,  see  him,  baffled,  feebly  faint  of  heart, 

Of  motives  mix'd,  as  'mid  the  mad  uproar, 
Trembles  the  balance  and  new  fears  upstart. 
One  moment — while    their   clamour  calls  for 

gore- 
He  feels  a  conscience  in  his  bosom  beat  ; 
And,  silent,  ponders  on  his  judgment-seat. 

1 6. 

For  Claudia's  message  meets  him  with  her  plea, 
Her  dream  of  "  that  Just  Man."     And  shall  it 
win 

Justice  from  such  a  spouse  ?     Affrighted  he — 
Nay,  more  affrighted — turns  once  more  within, 

To  ask — "  Whence  art  thou  ?  "     Awful  mystery  ! 
They  call'cl  him  "  Son  of  God  "  amid  their  din. 

Yes — oh  !  "  whence  art  thou  ?  "     What  if  so  it 
were  ? 

Could  God  more  god-like  meet  a  worshipper  ? 


85  PONTIUS   PILATE. 

17- 

As  the  weak  wall  resists  and  not  the  rock, 
So  he  withstands  ;  so  smite  in  dread  recoil 

Those  waves  of  fury.    Hear  their  frightful  mock — 
"  Thou   art  not  Csesar's  friend  !  "     Their  wild 
turmoil 

Strikes  at  his  master-passion,  like  the  shock 
Of  ocean,  when  its  depths  uprise  and  boil. 

Once  more,  while  yet  their  crafty  cries  they  urge, 

Pilate  acquits — and  gives  Him  to  the  scourge. 

18. 
Then  cometh  Jesus  forth,  in  thorny  crown 

And  robe  of  purple  purpled  now  afresh  : 
For  streams  the  beaded  blood  his  face  adown  ; 

And  of  his  shoulders  bleeds  the  furrow'd  flesh. 
Behold  that  diadem  of  Christ's  renown  ; 

No  sheen  of  gold  that  glitters  in  the  mesh 
Shows   like    those    thorns— withstand  the  sight, 

who  can  ? 
So  Pilate  feels    and  cries, — "  Behold  the  man  !  " 

19. 
Behold  the  Man  :  behold  God's  only  Son  ! 

Pilate  turns  preacher  :  and  who  else,  like  him, 
Before  mankind  hath  set  the  Holy  One  ? 

So,  seen  of  angels  and  the  seraphim, 
And  seen  of  sinners  thus,  while  Time  shall  run, 

Through    dazzled    eyes,    which    contrite  tears 

bedim — 

Behold  the  Lamb  !     They  see — and  yet  they  cry, 
"  Away  with  Him  !     Him  let  us  crucify." 


PONTIUS    PILATE.  87 

20. 

Bring  hither  water  and  the  laver  bring  ! 

See  Pilate  wash  his  hands  ;  he  deems  'tis  fit 
To  them  and  to  their  seed  this  guilt  should  cling: 

"  His  blood  on  us  shall  be  " — they  echo  it  ! 
"  His   cross,   at   least,  shall    bear   His   claim   of 
King  : 

And  mine  the  maxim — What  is  writ  is  writ." 
"  See,  I  am  innocent  of  blood,"  he  cries, 
Uplifting  his  wash'd  hands  before  their  eyes. 

21. 
Mock  not  this  rite  baptismal  :  Who  art  thou 

Call'd  Christian,  but  in  spirit  all  unbless'd, 
And  o't  ashamed  of  Jesus  ?     On  thy  brow 

The  cross  is  seal'd,  but  when  with  loyal  breast 
Hast  thou  for  Him  fulfilled  the  soldier's  vow, 

Or  for  that  thorny  crown  and  purple  vest 
Stood  forth  like  Pilate  !     When  hast  thou,  sore- 
tried, 
Wash'd  ev'n  thine  hands  to  own  the  Crucified." 


Take   heed    when  Sodom's  self  at  Christ's  right 

hand, 

And  foul  Gomorrah  plead  before  His  bar, 
Lest  Pilate  rise  to  judge  thee,  and  may  stand 

At  that  great  day  anear  and  thou  afar : 
Art  thou  Christ's  soldier  ?     'Mid  the  guilty  band 
.  Of  them  that  hate  Him,  hast  thou  gained  one 
scar  ? 


88  PONTIUS    PILATE. 

Scoff  not  at  Pilate's  laver,  self-baptized, 
If  less  than  his  thy  christ'ning  hath  sufficed. 

23- 
Yet  can  such  guilt  be  pardon 'd  !  Who  shall  say  ? 

Faith  may  remove  great  mountains,  and  who 

knows 
That  Pilate  ne'er  repented  ?     But  that  day 

Full  many  a  Christian  Pilate  shall  disclose  ; 
And  if  that  blood  their  sins  can  wash  away, 

Who  crucify  afresh  the  Man  of  Woes, 
Why  not  poor  Pilate's  ?    Christ's  atonement  free, 
Washeth  all  nations,  like  the  vasty  sea. 

24. 

Much  have  I  ponder'd  Pilate  with  such  thought, 
Weighing    His    Word,    whose   ev'ry   word    is 

weigh'd, 

And  while  I  hope  for  him,  presuming  naught, 
'Tis    mine  own  sin  that  makes   my  soul  dis- 

may'd, 
Lest  to  the  Christian's  door  the  crime  be  brought 

While  ev'n  for  Pilate  pardon  is  up  laid. 
Before  that  day  judge  nothing  :  leave  him  there, 
With  Him  who  for  His  murderers  poured  His 
prayer. 

25- 
Yet  for  all  heathen  in  their  vale  of  death 

Make  broad  this   hope  ;    and   think  of  Pilate 
then, 


PONTIUS   PILATE.  89 

How  day  by  day,  as  with  all  nations'  breath, 
His  name  is  named  in  all  the  tongues  of  men. 

"Suffer'd  by  Pontius  Pilate  " — so  it  saith  ; 
Nor  is  one  human  name  within  my  ken 

So  frequent  utter'd  as  this  name  unblest, 

O'er  all  the  lands  and  oceans,  east  or  west. 

26. 
By  men,  by  maids,  by  boys,  by  women  all, 

And  all  their  years  of  life  'tis  said  or  sung. 
Where  the  great  Minster  lifts  its  lofty  wall, 

Who   hath    not   heard    its    echoes,   while   the 

tongue 
Upsends  the  Creed,  before  the  people  fall 

Upon  their  bended  knees — the  old  and  young  ? 
Ev'n  at  his  mother's  knee  the  babe  must  frame 
With  pouting  lip  to  lisp  poor  Pilate's  name. 

27. 
.Sounds  not  the  dread  indictment  too  severe, 

Roll'd  round  the  globe,  and,  like  the  wand'ring 

Jew, 
Never  let  die  ?     But — mercy's  accents  hear  : 

"The  princes  of  this  world,  they  never  knew 
The  wisdom  that  for  Christians  shines  so  clear, 

Else  had  they  never  done  the  deed — who  slew 
The  Lord  of  Glory."     So  exclaims  St.  Paul, 
And  let  his  verdict  plead  for  Gentiles  all. 


And  ev'n  at  Pilate's  bar,  that  bleeding  Lamb 
Hear  how  His  lips  dropp'd  mercy  'mid  his  foes: 


90  PONTIUS    PILATE. 

"Not  thine  the  greater  sin."     Nor  Creed    nor 

psalm 
Forbids  the  hopes  that  spring  from  words  like 

those. 
This  of  his  great  Atonement  lifts  the  palm 

Victorious  over  Satan  !     Still  it  flows 
That  fountain  of  Salvation  ;  still  arise 
The  fuming  savours  of  that  sacrifice. 

29. 
Hear  Peter  plead  :  "  My  brethren  :  Well,  I  wot 

Through  ignorance  ye  did  it,  as  did  they — 
Your  rulers  :  for  ev'n  Pilate  faltered  not, 

Determined  to  release  him — nor  gave  way 
Till  ye  denied  the  Just  One."     Ne'er  forgot, 

Be  what  the  Man  of  Tarsus  too  might  say, 
As  for  himself  so  for  the  world  beside: 
"  Mercy  I  gain'd,  for  blindly  I  denied." 

3°. 

Nor  shall  the  rocks  of  Sinai  with  their  flame 
Prevail  against  the  Cross  ;    nor  those   dread 

seals 
Against  the  Lamb   that  opes  them.      His  blest 

claim 

The  rainbow  round    His  throne   in   light  re- 
veals ; 
And  sure  the  heathen  in  Messiah's  name 

May  see  Salvation.     Ev'n  the  law  appeals 
For  mercy  to  "the  stranger,"  and  makes  room 
For  Gentiles,  where  its  Hebrew  censers  fume. 


PONTIUS    PILATE.  91 

31- 
Yes,  for  "  the  stranger"  are  soft  words  engrav'd 

Deep  in  the  law  by  Moses'  iron  pen  : 
For  sins  of  ignorance  the  sin-enslaved 

Find  mercy  in  the  sweet  Atonement  then. 
For  oh  !  the  depth  !  if  Pilate  may  be  saved. 

Sure  there  is  pardon  for  the  world  of  men, 
And  for  all  sinners  grace  is  multiplied, 
Through  the  dear  love  of  that  blest  Lamb  that 
died. 

32. 

Methinks  poor  Pilate  stands  for  human  kind, 
For  all  who  sin  and  know  not  what  they  do; 

So  tenderly  did  Jesus  love  the  blind, 

So  did  His  prayer  ascend  for  them  that  slew. 

Sure,    where    that    crimson    Cross    hath    never 

shined, 
Forgiveness  may  be  found  and  glory  too. 

What  Aaron's  priest  in  type  might  waft  away, 

Twas  God's  High-Priest  wash'd  out  that  dread- 
ful day. 

33- 
Yes,  worthy  is  the  Lamb,  and  who  shall  tell 

How  worthy,  save  His  ransom'd  there  above, 
Where  those  sweet  Paschal  anthems  ever  swell, 

And  higher  raptures  in  the  angels  move. 
There  they   who   drink   from   life's   exhaustless 

well, 
And  sing  the  wonders  of  redeeming  love, 


92  PONTIUS    PILATE. 

Shall  show  how  mercy  to  the  blind  is  given: 
'Tis  aur  presumptuous  sins  that  cry  to  heaven  ! 

34- 
And  this  my  comfort  when  I  chant  the  Creed, 

That   not   for    doom    we    name    poor    Pilate's 

name, 
But,  as  it  were,  for  guilty  souls  to  plead, 

Who  sin  like  him,  unknown  of  sin  the  shame. 
Oh  !  blest  be  He  who  died  to  intercede, 

Methinks  the  depths  of  pardon  we  proclaim — 
Naming  one  sinner's  name,  for  whom  He  cried, 
"  Father,  forgive  them  " — through  the  Crucified. 


GABBATHA. 

ECCE  Homo.— S.  JOHN,  xix.  5. 


THE  ploughers  ploughed  their  furrows  red 

Upon  His  back  bent  down, 
Then,  in  the  purple  robe — His  head 

Torn  by  the  thorny  crown — 
Came  forth  of  men  the  Man — and  Pilate  said 
Behold'the  Man  ! 


The  Man  that  is  my  fellow — saith 

God  in  the  prophet's  page  : 
Behold  the  Man  of  Nazareth 

Confronts  the  rabble's  rage  ; 
'Tis  God-with-us  consents  to  scorn  and  death. 
Behold  the  Man  ! 

3- 

He  comes,  He  bleeds,  and  meek  He  stands, 

And  mute  His  murderers  gaze  ; 
The  reed  bemocks  His  royal  hands, 

Who  God's  own  sceptre  sways  : 
Bows  ev'n  the  Roman  heart  that  thus  com- 
mands : 

Behold  the  Man  ! 


94  GABBATHA. 

4- 
Oh  !  moment  in  the  march  of  time 

The  greatest  and  the  worst, 
When  stoops  the  Son  of  God  sublime 

So  low,  'mid  men  accurst. 
Tis  heathen  Pilate  thus  rebukes  their  crime  : 
Behold  the  Man  ! 

5- 
Poor  Pilate  !  That  stupendous  scene 

He  made,  for  oh  !  he  felt 
How  meek  in  Majesty  His  mien, 

And — sure  their  hearts  must  melt ; 
'So  thought  he — and  he  spake  with  awe,  I  ween: 
Behold  the  Man  !• 

6. 

Not  then,  as  now,  might  instant  Art 

That  sight  so  dread  make  fast, 
And  grave,  as  with  the  sunbeam's  dart, 

What  they  beheld  aghast  ; 
But  Lord  !  of  all  mankind,  make  every  heart 
Behold  the  Man  ! 

7- 
For  nevermore  shall  fade  away 

That  momentary  view  ; 
Age  after  age,  day  after  day, 

To  faithful  souls  made  new: 
Echoes  that  voice,  and  still  shall  sound  for  aye: 
Behold  the   Man  ! 


GABBATHA.  95 


Nor  yet  that  voice  shall  cease  to  thrill 

Ev'n  those  who  sing  the  psalm 
Of  Moses  on  the  heavenly  hill  ; 
For  while  they  see  the  Lamb 
And  sing  the  Lamb  once  slain  they  hear  it 
still  : 

Behold  the  Man  ! 


CALVARY. 

IN  the  Mount  of  the  Lord  it  shall  be  seen.— GEN.  xxii.  14. 
IN  this  Mountain. — ISAIAH,  xxv.  6. 

I. 

As  the  strong  swimmer  spreads  his  hands  to  swim 

So  shall  his  hands  be  spread, 
And  seen  of  angels,  seen  of  seraphim 

Work  wonders  'mid  the  dead  ; 
Shall   spoil — of  powers   and  princedoms  of  the 
air — 

Their  portion  and  their  prey, 
Like  Moses,  when  the  Cross  he  made  in  prayer, 

On  old  Rephidim's  Day. 

2. 
Here  the  dark  veil  of  death  that  covers  o'er 

The  face  of  nations  all, 
Those  pierced  hands  shall  rend,  and  nevermore 

Their  tears  undried  shall  fall. 
Death  shall  he  swallowed  up  that  day  of  days, 

In  victory  and  peace  ; 
And  in  this  mount  of  God  shall  songs  of  praise 

Begin,  no  more  to  cease. 

3- 
And    there    the    Lord    shall    make    our  Paschal 

Feast  ; 
Wines  on  the  lees  refined. 


CALVARY.  97 

While  swells  the  Alleluia,  west  and  east, 

From  all  redeem'd  mankind, 
A  man  shall  he  our  refuge  from  the  storm, 

From  blighting  heat  and  shade  ; 
When  for  the  poor  oppress'd  Immanuel's  form 

The  Crucified  is  made. 
7 


FOLLOWING  THE  LAMB. 

WHITHERSOEVER  he  goeth. — REV.  xiv.  4. 


THE  patient  Lamb  of  God,  I  see, 
As  forth  He  goes  to  Calvary, 
And  travels  o'er  that  doleful  road, 
Bearing  the  cross,  his  bitter  load. 


That  cross,  my  soul,  thy  sins  have  made, 
On  Him  thy  sins  that  cross  have  laid  : 
How  should  the  thought  thy  heart  appall, 
Beneath  such  load,  to  see  Him  fall  ! 

3- 

Oil,  Lamb  before  Thy  shearers  dumb, 
Like  the  Cyrenian  lord  I  come, 
And  fain  like  him  compelled  would  be, 
To  bear  Thy  burden  after  Thee. 

4- 

Let  me  for  Thee  take  up  the  cross, 
And  count  my  life,  my  all,  but  loss, 
If  so  partaker  of  Thy  pain, 
Thy  crown  at  last  may  be  my  gain. 


FOLLOWING   THE    LAMB.  99 

5- 

Dear  Lord,  whatever  cross  it  be 
Thy  love  on  earth  allots  to  me, 
Oh,  may  Thy  servant  ne'er  repine, 
Remembering  what  a  cross  was  Thine  ! 

6. 

Yet  make  no  sorer  cross  my  share 
Than  Thou  canst  teach  me  how  to  bear  ; 
Remember,  Lord,  how  frail  I  am, 
How  faint  in  following  the  Lamb  ! 


THE    CROSS-BEARER. 

HIM    they    compelled    to  bear   His  cross.  —  ST.   MATT. 
xxvii.  32. 


THE  rustic  Simon  from  Cyrene  came, 

A  Gentile  born, 
Perchance  of  Ham's  dejected  race  and  name, 

Who  little  dreamed  that  morn, 
As  to  the  town  he  fared  to  keep  the  Feast, 
His  name  should  be  remember'd,  west  and  east, 
Forever  and  forever,  as  of  one 
Who  did  that  day  the  deed  which  angels  would 
have  done. 


2. 

Him  they  compelled  Messiah's  cross  to  bear, 

With  rude  arrest  ; 
Mocking  the  plain  wayfarer's  vacant  stare, 

His  awe  and  look  dislress'd. 
A  stranger  proselyte,  amaz'd  was  he 
Entangl'd  in  that  rabble  throng  to  be, 
To  hear  the  soldiers'  cry  and  see  withal 
Beneath  his  cruel  load  the  dear  Redeemer  fall. 


THE   CROSS-BEARER.  IOI 

3- 

Unseen,  what  heavenly  legions  then  down  flew 

Him  to  upbear  ! 
Archangels    stretch'd     their    loving    arms — but 

knew 

They  might  no  further  dare  : 
Twas  Simon's  lot  alone  to  lift  the  load, 
And  following  Jesus  o'er  the  tearful  road, 
To  share  his  Saviour's  burden  :  foremost  he 
Of  all    that   bear  the    cross  ;     who    would    not 

Simon  be  ? 

4- 
Who  would  not  give  his  dearest  Lord  relief 

'Mid  shame  and  blows  ? 
Who  covets  not  to  soothe  the  Saviour's  grief 

With  tender  words,  like  those 
Who  follow'd  near  with  woman's  tears  and  cries  ? 
Nay,  from  such  longings  to  life's  duties  rise  : 
Bear  but  the  cross  thou  art  compelled  to  bear, 
And  following  thus  thy  Lord — so  shalt  thou  do 
thy  share. 


THE   WAY   OF   SORROWS. 

BEARING  His  cross.— ST.  LUKE. 


BEARING  the  cross,  that  baleful  load, 
He  toils  along  the  bitter  road  ; 
The  patient  Lamb,  the  cruel  tree 
Drags  forth  to  ghastly  Calvary. 

2. 

When  faint  He  falls,  so  worn  and  weak, 
How  to  my  soul  His  sorrows  speak, 
For  in  that  load  my  sins  I  scan, 
Borne  by  the  lowly  Son  of  Man. 

3- 

Soon  was  that  cross  His  racking  bed 
For  quivering  limbs  and  writhing  head, 
Where  streaming  wound  and  straining  eye 
Told  of  His  mortal  agony. 

4- 

Blest  Saviour,  this  for  me  to  bear 
Was  thine,  and  what  for  Thee  my  share  ? 
Shall  I  for  Thee  no  prize  lay  down, 
Accept  no  cross,  yet  claim  the  crown  ? 


THE   WAY    OF   SORROWS.  103 

5- 

Take  up  the  cross  !     Tis  hard  to  do, 
But  mercy  comes  with  precept  too  : 
Mine  be  the  cross  Thy  love  ordains, 
What  Christ  compels  His  grace  sustains. 


GOLGOTHA. 

AND  Abraham  said,  My  son,  God  will  provide  Himself 
a  Lamb.  —GEN.  xxii.  8. 


LITTLE  the  rich  man  thought, 

When  as  that  place  of  skulls,  that  field 
Of  frightful  Golgotha  he  bought, 

All  that  he  did  was  sealed 
Long  time  before,  in  old  Isaiah's  song  ; 
Strange  what  his  gold  might  buy  should  not  to 
him  belong. 

2. 

It  was  Moriah's  height, 

On  the  third  day  that  did  arise, 
Marked  by  the  dread  Shekinah's  light, 

To  Father  Abraham's  eyes  : 
Fast  by  his  side  a  youth  pursued  the  road 
Who    on    his   shoulders    bore    a    fagot's    fearful 
load. 

3 

"  Here  on  this  mount — God's  hill," 

The  patriarch  said,  "it  shall  be  seen — 
Let  us  but  work  His  holy  will — 
What  all  these  wonders  mean." 


GOLGOTHA.  105 

"  But   where   the    Lamb  ? "   the   voice  of  Isaac 

cried : 
"  Here  in  this  mount,  my  son,  God  will  the  Lamb 

provide." 

4- 

Lo  !    where  the  ram  of  old 

Was  in  the  tangled  thicket  caught, 
Where  Isaac's  bonds  the  cross  foretold, 

That  field  the  rich  man  bought. 
In  vile  neglect  Jehovah-Jireh  lay  ; 
And    none     remembered     now    that    name    of 
Abraham's  day/ 

5- 
The  gibbet's  baleful  gloom, 

The  jackal's  loathsome  feast  was  there, 
Till  Joseph  made  the  rock  a  tomb 

And  hedged  a  garden  fair  : 
Nor  dreamed  that  priests  should  seek,  in  Pilate's 

name, 

That  ransomed  rock,  once  more,  to  rear  a  cross 
of  shame. 

6. 

Isaiah's  words  fulfilled  ! 

On  either  hand  a  felon's  tree, 
For  so  the  loving  Father  willed 
That  His  dear  Son  should  be. 
As  with  the  wicked  in  his  death  of  gloom, 
So  with  the  rich,   in  state,  in  faithful  Joseph's 
tomb. 


106  GOLGOTHA. 

7- 
That  Golgotha  accurst 

Holds  the  new  Adam  in  its  cave  ; 
And  oh  !  how  all  unlike  the  first — 

An  Eden  from  a  grave 

He  gives  in  that  sweet  garden,  where  his  Bride 
Rose,  like  a  fairer  Eve,  forth  from  his  wounded 
side. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS. 

Is  it  nothing  to  you  ?— LAMENTATIONS,  i.  12. 
I. 

THEY  err  not  who  have  said,  of  yore, 

Ev'n  the  child  Jesus  suffer'd  sore,» 

And  all  His  days  for  us  the  cross  of  Calvary  bore. 

2. 

And  Art  this  truth  hath  well  made  known, 
Where — ev'n  with  Joseph's  tools,  is  shown 
The    child    who    frames   a    cross    to    wake    his 
.     mother's  moan. 

3- 

Those  lesser  sorrows  why  forget, 
That  strewed  the  path  before  Him  set, 
And  gathered  'round  his  death,  as  'twere  an  evil 
net? 

4- 

He  fasted  in  the  desert  bare  ; 
But  every  day — behold  His  care 
Of  our  indulgent  flesh  to  taste  no  pleasing  share. 

5- 

Those  senses  five  that  work  our  fall, 
And  oft  the  nobler  mind  enthrall, 
How,  in   his   passion's   pangs,  they  suffered   one 
and  all ! 


JOB  THE   MAN    OF   SORROWS. 

6. 

He  saw — constraint!  His  aching  sight — 
Men's  faces  fierce  as  beasts  that  fright, 
Or  made  like  shapes  that  scowl  in  visions  of  the 
night. 

7- 

He  heard — as  'twere  of  fiends  that  fell — 
The  curses  and  the  wolfish  yell, 
While  murd'rers  gnash'd  their  teeth  and  howl'd 
like  hounds  of  hell. 


He  smell'd — the  savour  foul  and  rank, 
Ere  gall  and  vinegar  he  drank  ; 
And  spittle  sraear'cl   his  face  from   mouths  like 
tombs  that  stank. 


9- 

He  tasted — while  they  mock'd  and  laugh'd — 
The  dripping  sponge,  but  left  unquaffd, 
Ev'n  in  his  thirst  of  death,  that  nauseous  dole  and 
draught. 

10. 

He  felt — the  blows,  the  thorns — but  this 
More  keen  than  nails — the  serpent-hiss 
Of  him  who  stung  his  cheek  with  treacherous  lip 
and  kiss. 


THE   MAN    OF   SORROWS.  109 

II. 

"  Ye  that  pass  by — behold  and  see, 
The  sorrows  that  are  done  to  me. 
And  is  it  naught  to  you  ?  "  He  asks — and  answer 
ye. 

12. 

We  answer  at  the  font,  and  there 
Promise  for  His  dear  sake  the  cross  to  bear  ; 
But,  oh  !   forgive  us  Lord,  and   us  poor  sinners 
spare. 


THE   CROSS. 

AND  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me. — ST.  JOHN,  xii.  32. 

I. 

SAVIOUR,  on  thine  uplifted  Tree 
How  soon  Thy  saving  work  began, 

Drawing  all  human  hearts  to  Thee, 
For  dying  men  the  dying  Man. 

2 

Foremost  of  those  who  fled — draws  near. 
With  Mary  by  the  cross  to  stand, 

That  one  whom  Jesus  loved — to  hear 

His  pard'ning  word,  His  sweet  command. 

3- 
Full  soon  is  changed  the  vacant  stare 

Of  those  who  raised  the  cross  so  high, 
For  sitting  down  they  watched  Him  there, 

Touched  by  that  meek,  forgiving  cry. 

4- 
Then  scribe  and  priest  the  ebb  discerned 

Of  passion's  tides' that  stormed  before  ; 
When  smote  their  breasts  and  slow  returned 

Mockers  who  now  could  mock  no  more. 

5- 

Vain  those  appeals  and  scoffs  renew'd — 
"  Others  He  saved,  not  self,  we  see  :  " 


THE   CROSS.  Ill 

For  conscience  owns  ingratitude  ; 
So  base  ourselves,  so  gracious  He  ! 

6. 
And  lo  !  the  thief  reclaimed  at  last 

Seems  tow'rds  the  Christ  more  near  to  move, 
For  ev'n  those  arms,  though  pinioned  fast, 

Embrace  His  all-embracing  love. 

7- 
'Tis  finished  !     At  the  mighty  cry 

Uprose  the  dark  that  veiled  His  death, 
Forth  flames  the  cross,  in  victory, 

While  rend  the  flinty  rocks  beneath. 


Then  broke  one  Roman  heart  as  hard, 
That  long  had  pondered  with  amaze, 

And  marvelled  at  the  victim  marr'd, 
That  fixed  his  stern,  astonish'd  gaze. 

9- 
The  moment  that  his  Saviour  died, 

Fresh  from  that  heart  came  forth  his  creed : 
"  This  was  a  righteous  man,"  he  cried — 

"  This  was  the  Son  of  God,  indeed." 

10. 
O  Lamb  of  God — that  cross  of  thine, 

When  shall  mankind  its  glory  see  ? 
When  shall  be  felt  its  might  divine, 

To  draw  all  human  hearts  to  Thee  ? 


THE  THREE  CROSSES. 

HE  said  unto  Jesus,   Lord,  remember  me.  when  Thou 
comest  into  Thy  kingdom.— ST.  LUKE,  xxiii.  42. 

I. 
AT  morn  or  eve,  one  shining  sphere 

Sheds  its  reflected  light  serene, 
But  holds  its  course  the  sun  so  near, 

That  few  the  little  star  have  seen. 

2. 

Behold  in  all  its  solar  blaze 

The  Cross  of  Christ,  the  death  divine  ! 
How  mean  beside  its  morning  rays 

The  martyr's  noblest  trophies  shine  ! 

3 
The  thief's  repentant  cross  to  view 

Not  many  for  a  moment  turn  : 
The  Cross  of  Christ  so  near — how  few 

Those  meaner  splendors  can  discern  ! 

4- 
Yet  think  what  ev'n  that  cross  supplies, 

And  what  reflected  light  it  throws  : 
How  the  Great  Cross  it  glorifies, 

And  all  its  might  and  mercy  shows  ! 


THE   THREE   CROSSES.  113 

5- 

Not  the  mere  martyr  Jesus  hangs 
Upon  the  nails  and  bows  his  head  ; 

For  His  are  our  redemption's  pangs, 
His  blood  is  for  atonement  shed. 

6. 

That  other  cross  the  Saviour's  power 
Displays  in  all  His  might  to  save  ; 

He  dies,  but  in  that  awful  hour 

From  Satan's  thralldom  frees  the  slave. 

7. 

Nor  frees  alone,  but  clothes  with  light 
The  soul  so  dark  to  Him  that  turns  : 

For  when  were  faith  and  hope  more  bright 
Than  His,  who  there  his  God  discerns  ? 


A  king — though  like  a  worm  he  seems  ; 

Almighty — though  they  crucify  ; 
His  God — though  Him  the  priest  blasphemes  ; 

His  Saviour — who  consents  to  die  ! 

9- 

The  Resurrection  and  the  Life, 

While  groaning  on  the  cross  he  hung  ; 

How  strong  the  faith,  with  fact  at  strife, 
That  fired  the  malefactor's  tongue  ! 


114  THK   THREE   CROSSES. 


A  thief,  a  sinner  base  at  morn, 

On  that  blest  Lamb  has  fix'cl  his  eyes, 

And  heard  His  words — till,  newly  born, 
He  lives — and  all  in  glory  dies. 

n. 

Dies,  but  confesses,  first,  his  Lord  ; 

Pleads  with  his  twin  in  shame  and  crime  ; 
Repents  and  prays,  and  wins  the  word 

Of  peace  and  promise  so  sublime. 

12 

The  faith  that  prayed — "  Remember  Me 
When  Thou  shalt  in  Thy  kingdom  come  "- 

How  great !  His  kingdom  to  foresee  ; 
That  Lamb  before  His  shearers  dumb  ! 

13- 
Back  to  fair  Eden's  guarded  door 

Redeeming  love  in  mercy  goes  ; 
The  flaming  sword  is  seen  no  more, 

Of  Paradise  the  gates  unclose. 

14. 

Of  Paradise — but  not  the  same, 

Nor  of  a  kingdom  far  away  ; 
But  "  thou,  with  me,  who  own'st  my  Name, 

Shalt  be  in  Paradise  this  day." 


THE   THREE   CROSSES.  115 

15- 

Thus  dies  the  Christ,  the  war  to  wage 
With  hosts  of  hell  ;  while  yet  to  prove 

His  power  to  save — behold  the  gauge 
In  this  the  trophy  of  His  love  ! 

16. 
The  earth  its  depth,  the  heaven  its  height, 

Its  breadth  the  widespread  world  may  know, 
And  lo  !  the  fourfold  cross,  in  light, 

This  parable  might  seem  to  show. 

17- 
Of  Golgotha — those  crosses  three, 

That  Cross  of  Christ,  the  twain  between, 
Unfold  Redemption's  mystery, 

And  tell  what  all  life's  myst'ries  mean. 

18. 
He  that  believes,  though  dead  he  were, 

Shall  in  His  kingdom  live  and  reign  ; 
Who  scorns  the  Atoning  Sufferer, 

Beholds  His  crimson'd  cross  in  vain. 


THE    ATONEMENT. 

No  man  may  deliver  his  brother  nor  make  agreement 
unto  God  for  him,  for  it  cost  more  to  redeem  their  souls.— 
Ps.  xlix.  7,  8. 

I. 

HAIL  Cross  of  Christ,  whose  crimson  stains 

Flow  from  the  dear  Redeemer's  veins  ; 

Our  only  hope,  our  only  plea, 

Our  refuge  from  the  storm  is  He  ; 

And  blest  the  Father's  love,  who  gave — 

In  Him — the  Mighty  One  to  save. 

2. 

Of  sinful  flesh  how  poor  the  dream 
That  man  his  brother  may  redeem, 
Or  for  himself  redemption  win, 
By  human  merit  cleansed  from  sin. 
Dear  Lamb  of  God,  thy  blood  alone 
Is  all-sufficient  to  atone. 

3- 

Hail  Cross  of  Christ,  o'er  life's  dark  sea, 
Rising  our  Star  of  Hope  to  be  ! 
Through  clouds  and  storms  that  lower  around 
Thy  radiance  breaks,  and  peace  is  found, 
And  guided  by  thy  light,  at  last, 
The  port  appears,  the  waves  are  passed. 


THE   ATONEMENT.  117 

4- 

Poor  pilgrim  through  a  world  of  woe, 
While  here  I  fare  and  toil  below, 
Cheer'cl  by  thy  beams,  as  pilgrims  are 
Who  but  descry  one  friendly  star, 
Still  shall  my  heart  contented  sing, 
Hail  Cross  of  Christ,  my  God  and  King  ! 


HYSSOP. 

PURGE  me  with  hyssop  and  I  shall  be  clean.— PSALM,  li.  7. 

I. 

THE  bitter  hyssop,  springing-  from  the  wall, 
While  Solomon  the  king  is  passing  by, 
Of  that  imperial  sage  attracts  the  eye  ; 

But  did  that  eye  foresee  the  vinegar  and  gall  ? 

2. 

A  greater  King  than  Solomon  is  here, 
Of  that  strange  herb,  the  true  interpreter, 
Whose  pungent  scent  is  as  the  bitter  myrrh, 
Whose  taste  like  Sodom's  sea,  or  Marah's  fount 
austere. 

3- 

O'er  Moses'  book  its  spray  the  hyssop  throws  ; 
Its  crimson   stain    the    Hebrew's  door   makes 

sure ; 

The  purge  of  sin,  the  loathsome  leper's  cure, 
All  teach — from  Christ  alone  the  blood  of  sprin- 
kling flows. 

4- 

The  awful  groan  from  His  deep  heart  that  burst 
When,  uncomplaining  on  the  nails  He  hung, 
When,  from   the  dust  of  death,  His    parched 

tongue 

The  last  fierce  torture  told  in  that  one  word — I 
thirst: 


HYSSOP.  119 

5- 

That  cry  expounds  the  Levite's  hyssop-bough, 
The    sponge,   with  gall   and  acrid  juice,   that 

drips, 
The  reed  with  hyssop  bound  that  mocks  his 

lips — 
All  these,  Messiah's  signs,  are  seen  in  Jesus  now. 

6. 
Kneel  we  beneath  His  Cross  of  Sacrifice, 

Smiting  the    breast,  and    trembling   to   draw 

near ; 

Yet  all  these  tokens  reading,  with  deep  fear, 
While  Nature  blackens  o'er  :  the  Lord  of  Nature 
dies. 

7- 
For  so,  in  jot  and  tittle,  all  fulfill'd, 

Even  to  the  hyssop  are  His  signs  foreshown  ; 
Behold  the  pierced  side,  th'  unbroken  bone  ; 
The  Paschal  Lamb  with  bitter  herbs  is  killed. 


Around    the  cross,  with  thorn    and    spear  and 

reed, 

This  plant  we  twine,  of  mystic  worth  not  least ; 
Behold  and  see,  how  for  Our  Great  High  Priest, 
The    Law   and    Prophets  blend,    to   deck    those 
hands  that  bleed  ! 


THE   DESIRE   OF   NATIONS. 

So  shall  He  sprinkle  many  nations.— ISAIAH,  Hi.  15. 


SAVIOUR,  sprinkle  many  nations  ! 

Fruitful  let  thy  sorrows  be, 
By  thy  pains  and  consolations 

Draw  the  Gentiles  unto  thee. 
Of  thy  Cross  the  wondrous  story, 

Be  it  to  the  nations  told  : 
Let  them  see  Thee  in  thy  glory, 

And  thy  mercy  manifold. 


Far  and  wide,  though  all  unknowing, 

Pants  for  thee  each  mortal  breast : 
Human  tears  for  Thee  are  flowing, 

Human  hearts  in  Thee  would  rest. 
Thirsting  as  for  dews  of  even, 

Or  the  new-mown  grass  for  rain, 
Thee  they  seek  as  God  of  Heaven, 

Thee  as  man  for  sinners  slain. 

3- 
Saviour,  lo' !  the  isles  are  waiting, 

Stretched  the  hand  and  strained  the  sight, 


THE  DESIRE   OF   NATIONS. 

For  thy  spirit,  new-creating, 

Love's  pure  flame  and  wisdom's  light  : 
Give  the  word,  and  of  the  preacher 

Speed  the  foot  and  touch  the  tongue, 
Till  on  earth,  by  every  creature, 

Glory  to  the  Lamb  be  sung. 


NICODEMUS. 

WITH  the  rich  in  his  death.— ISAIAH,  liii.,  9. 


THEY  came  to  Nicodemus,  him  to  mock 
Because  with  them  no  part  he  bore, 
And  they  had  mock'd  him  once  before  : 

Now  let  him  share  the  shame  and  feel  its  shock  ! 


Him  then  they  told  his  prophet  was  no  more  ; 

Was  hanging  lifeless  on  the  tree  ; 

With  thieves  was  hanging — there  on  Calvary, 
Just  as  the  serpent  was  uphung  of  yore  ! 

3- 

Started  that  ruler  at  the  taunt  severe  : 

Nay,  have  they  made  his  blood  to  stream  ? 
Made  that  white  Lamb  a  serpent  seem  ? 

Oh  !  where  was  I  ?     Alas  !  too  late  I  hear. 

4- 

Came  back  those  words — came  back  that  lamp- 
lit  scene, 

When  first  he  sought  the  Christ  to  see, 

And  came  by  night  so  stealthily, 
'Mid  Olive's  groves  to  find  the  Nazarene  : 


NICODEMUS.  123 

5- 

"  As  Moses  lifted  up  that  brazen  sign,  . 
So  must  the  Son  of  Man,"  he  said, 
"  Be  lifted  up."     Strange  words  and  dread  ! 

But  now  'tis  all  unveil'd — their  sense  divine. 

6. 

Uprose  that  ruler  of  the  Jews  :  uprose 

Unwonted  courage  in  his  breast. 

He  came  with  Joseph,  and  thrice  blest 
These  bore  the  dear  Redeemer  to  repose. 


THE    BURIAL. 

THEN  took  they  the  body  of  Jesus  and  wound  it  in  linen 
clothes,  with  the  spices  as  the  manner  of  the  Jews  is  to  bury. 
ST.  JOHN,  xix.,  40. 

1. 

YES,  'tis  finished  !     All  is  done 
Man  could  do  to  God  the  Son. 
Hangs  He  there  upon  the  Tree  ; 
In  His  side  the  Fountain  see, 
Gory  hands  and  drooping  brow, 
Bruised  and  marr'd  !  'Tis  finished  now. 

2. 

Loose  we  then  the  thorny  crown  ; 
Take  the  glorious  victim  clown  ; 
Draw  the  nails  with  tender  care  ; 
Gently,  now,  the  body  bear : 
Spread  and  fold  his  winding-sheet, 
Store  its  bands  with  spices  sweet. 

3- 

Through  the  garden,  seek  the  tomb ; 
Lift  the  torch  to  light  its  gloom  ; 
Lo  !  about  the  sacred  bier 
Prince  and  senator  appear  ! 
With  the  poor  his  dwellings  were 
With  the  rich  his  sepulchre  ! 


THE   BURIAL. 
4- 

Roll  the  stone  upon  the  door  ! 
Longing,  looking  back  once  more, 
Turn  we  as  we  beat  the  breast, 
Leaving  Jesus  to  His  rest. 
Gentle  Marys,  do  not  stay ; 
Hallow  yet  one  Sabbath-day  ! 


THE  SEPULCHRE. 

To  the  mountain  of  myrrh  and  to  the  hill  of  frankincense, 
until  the  day  break  and  the  shadows  flee  away. — CANTICLES, 
iv.,  6. 

I. 

YE  that,  lingering  near  the  spot, 
Keep  your  vigil  fearing  not  ; 
Musing,  weeping,  where  the  grave 
Holds  the  guest  that  died  to  save. 


Holy  Marys — saw  ye  then, 
How  they  came  with  armed  men  ? 
Heard,  as  through  a  wilderness, 
Heavy  footsteps  near  you  press  ? 

3- 

"  Whose  the  tomb  ?     For  whom  ?  "  they  cry, 
As  their  torches  blaze  on  high; 
"Come  we,  lest  the  dead  should  stir — 
Sentries  round  a  sepulchre  ?  " 

4- 

Tell  them  'tis  the  royal  bed 
Where  a  conqueror  lays  his  head  : 
'Tis  the  rest  of  David's  son  ; 
'Tis  the  couch  of  Solomon  ! 


THE   SEPULCHRE.  127 

5- 

By  these  signs  of  pillar'd  smoke, 
Learn  of  what  the  prophet  spoke  ; 
For  the  funeral  lights  ye  bear, 
Fume  with  spice  and  incense  rare. 

6. 

Let  the  glorious  Victor  sleep, 
Threescore  guards  his  state  shall  keep, 
Posted  round,  a  goodly  sight, 
Sword  on  thigh,  through  all  the  night. 

7- 

Roman  guards,  expert  in  war, 
Israel's  too,  not  less  ye  are  : 
If — "  no  king  but  Caesar  " — then. 
Ye  are  Israel's  valiant  men  ! 


Jealous  Jews,  that  slew  your  King, 
Lo  !  what  royal  pomp  ye  bring, 
Guilty  fears  may  thus  provide     • 
Honours  for  the  Crucified. 

9- 

Shines  the  moon — the  guard  is  set ; 
Glistening  helms  with  dew-drops  wet, 
And  their  spears  make  shining  show, 
Pacing  slowly  to  and  fro. 


128  THE   SEPULCHRE. 

10. 

Seal  the  stone  with  Pilate's  gem  ; 
Daughters  of  Jerusalem, 
By  the  hinds  and  by  the  roes 
Rouse  him  not  from  sweet  repose. 

II. 

Where  the  mountain  scents  of  myrrh, 
Frankincense  and  fragrant  fir, 
He  is  gone,  till  break  of  day, 
Till  the  shadows  flee  away. 

12. 

He  that  in  the  garden  knelt, 
He  in  Olive's  groves  that  dwelt, 
Here  His  bruised  flesh  hath  laid, 
In  a  garden's  grateful  shade. 

13- 

Leave  Him — 'tis  the  prophet's  word — 
Till  the  turtle's  voice  is  heard  ; 
Leave  Him  till  the  darkness  flees  : 
Wake  Him  not  until  He  please. 


EASTER. 

THE  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Root  of  David,  hath 
prevailed.— REV.  v.,  5. 


WAKE  the  world  !     The  morning  breaks, 

Lo  !  the  Lord  of  life  awakes, 

See  his  glory  in  the  skies  ! 

Christ  is  risen  :  let  us  rise. 

Of  His  Promise  naught  hath  failed: 

Judah's  Lion  hath  prevailed. 

2. 

Sing  the  patient  Lamb's  repose, 
Sing  the  Lion  that  uprose  : 
Lamb  of  God,  our  sins  to  bear, 
Lion,  death  and  hell  to  tear  ; 
Lamb-like  in  the  grave  to  lie  ; 
Judah's  Lion  ne'er  to  die. 

3- 

Wake,  the  wondrous  tale  to  tell 
How  He  broke  the  bars  of  hell. 
He  that  lay  among  the  dead, 
Death  itself  hath  captive  led  : 
Death  and  hell,  the  sting  and  flame, 
Judah's  Lion  overcame. 
9 


130  EASTER. 

4- 

Wake  the  never-ending  psalm  ; 

Song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb  ; 

Of  the  Lamb,  a  Victim  rent, 

Of  the  Lion's  hardiment, 

Spread  His  praise  from  shore  to  shore 

Juclah's  Lion  dies  no  more. 

5- 

Sing  His  waking  from  the  dead  ; 
Shook  the  hills,  the  ocean  fled  : 
Springs  of  life  the  grave  revealed, 
Garden  closed  and  fountain  sealed  ; 
And,  like  lightning  from  the  gloom, 
Judah's  Lion  rent  the  tomb. 

6. 

Christ  is  risen  !  weep  no  more  : 
Sing  the  glorious  Conqueror  ; 
Songs  of  His  salvation  sing  : 
Where,  O  Death,  thy  cruel  sting  ! 
Worthy  is  the  Lamb  once  slain  ; 
Judah's  Lion,  live  and  reign  ! 


EASTER  IN  THE  GARDEN. 

VERY  early  in  the  morning,  the  first  day  of  the  week,  they 
came  unto  the  Sepulchre  at  the  rising  of  the  sun.— ST.  MARK, 
xvi.,  2. 

MARY   AND  SALOME. 

TELL  us,  Gard'ner  dost  thou  know 
Where  the  Rose  and  Lily  grow, 
Sharon's  Crimson  Rose  and  pale 
Judah's  Lily  of  the  Vale  ? 
Rude  is  yet  the  opening  year, 
Yet  their  sweetest  breath  is  here. 

GARDENER. 

Daughters  of  Jerusalem, 
Yes,  'tis  here  we  planted  them, 
Twas  a  Rose  all  red  with  gore, 
Wondrous  were  the  thorns  it  bore  ! 
'Twas  a  body  swathed  in  white, 
Ne'er  was  Lily  half  so  bright. 

THE   WOMEN. 

Gentle  Gard'ner,  even  so, 

What  we  seek  thou  seem'st  to  know. 

Bearing  spices  and  perfume, 

We  are  come  to  Joseph's  tomb  ; 

Breaks  ev'n  now  the  rosy  day  ; 

Roll  us,  then,  the  stone  away. 


132        EASTER  IN  THE  GARDEN. 
GARDENER. 

Holy  women  !  this  the  spot. 
Seek  Him,  but  it  holds  Him  not. 
This  the  holy  mount  of  myrrh, 
Here  the  hills  of  incense  were, 
Here  the  bed  of  His  repose, 
Till,  ere  dawn  of  day,  He  rose. 

MAGDALENE. 

Yes,  my  name  is  Magdalene  : 
I  myself  the  Lord  have  seen. 
Here  I  came,  but  now,  and  wept 
Where  I  deem'd  my  Saviour  slept. 
But  He  called  my  name — and  lo  ! 
Jesus  lives,  "t  is  even  so. 

GARDENER. 

Yes,  the  mountains  skipped  like  rams 
Leaped  the  little  hills  like  lambs. 
All  was  dark,  when  shook  the  ground, 
Quaked  the  Roman  soldiers  round, 
Streamed  a  glorious  light,  and  then 
Lived  the  Crucified  again. 

THE   WOMEN. 

Magdalene  hath  seen  and  heard  ! 
Gard'ner,  we  believe  thy  word. 
But  oh  !  where  is  Jesus  fled, 
Living  and  no  longer  dead  ? 
Tell  us,  that  we  too  may  go 
Where  the  Rose  and  Lily  grow. 


EASTER  IN  THE  GARDEN.         133 
MAGDALENE. 

Come,  the  stone  is  rolled  away  ; 

See  the  place  where  Jesus  lay  ; 

See  the  lawn  that  wrapp'd  His  brow  ; 

Here  the  angel  sat  but  now. 

"  Seek  not  here  the  Christ,"  he  said  ; 

"Seek  not  life  among  the  dead." 

ALL. 

Seek  we  then  the  life  above  ; 
Seek  we  Christ,  our  Light  and  Love. 
Now  His  words  we  call  to  mind  : 
If  we  seek  Him  we  shall  find  ; 
If  we  love  Him  we  shall  go 
Where  the  Rose  and  Lily  grow. 


THE    EASTER    EUCHARIST. 

HE  was  known  of  them  in  breaking  of  bread.— ST.  LUKE 
xxiv.,  35. 

I. 

BODY  of  Jesus,  oh  sweet  food  ! 
Blood  of  my  Saviour,  precious  Blood  ! 
On  these  thy  gifts,  Eternal  Priest, 
Grant  Thou  my  soul  in  faith  to  feast. 


Weary  and  faint  I  thirst  and  pine 
For  Thee  my  Bread,  for  Thee  rny  Wine, 
Till  strengthen'd  —  as  Elijah  trod, 
I  journey  to  the  Mount  of  God. 

3- 

There,  clad  in  white,  with  crown  and  palm, 
At  the  great  supper  of  the  Lamb, 
Be  mine,  with  all  thy  Saints  to  rest, 
Like  him  that  leaned  upon  thy  breast. 

4- 

Saviour,  till  then,  I  fain  would  know 
That  feast  above  by  this  below  ; 
This  Bread  of  Life,  this  wondrous  Food, 
Thy  Body  and  Thy  precious  Blood. 


THE    BIRD    SONG. 

THE  flowers  appear  on  the  earth,  the  time  of  the  singing  of 
birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land. 
—CANTICLES,  ii.,  12. 

1. 

THE  winter  is  over  and  gone  at  last, 
The  clays  of  snow  and  rain  are  past, 
Over  the  fields  the  flowers  appear, 
It  is  the  Turtle's  voice  we  hear. 

CHORUS. 

The  singing  of  birds, 

A  warbling  band, 

And  the  Spirit's  voice  ! 

The  voice  of  the  Turtle  is  heard  in  our  land. 
REPEAT. — The  time  it  is  of  the  singing  of  birds, 

The  singing  of  birds,  etc. 

2. 

And  gone  are  the  plaintive  days  of  Lent, 
The  week  of  the  Cross  with  Christ  we  spent. 
Now  he  giveth  us  joy  for  woe — 
Gather  the  flowers  the  first  that  blow. 

CHORUS. 

The  singing  of  birds, 

A  warbling  band, 

And  flowers  are  words, 
Are  words  the  faithful  may  understand. 
REPEAT. — The  time  it  is,  etc. 


136  THE   BIRD   SONG. 

3- 

A  sepulchre  sealed,  a  rock  its  door, 
But  winter  is  gone  and  comes  no  more. 
The  seal  is  broken,  and  now  are  seen 
Valleys  and  woods  and  gardens  green  ! 

CHORUS. 

The  singing  of  birds, 
A  warbling  band, 
'Mid  flocks  and  herds 
The  song  of  all  Nature  is  heard  in  our  land  ! 

REPEAT. — The  time  it  is,  etc. 

4- 

And  Christ  is  the  song  of  everything  ! 
For  Death  is  winter,  and  Christ  the  spring  ; 
Fountains  that  warble  in  purling  words — 
Hark  !  how  they  echo  the  "  Song  of  Birds  :  " 

CHORUS. 

The  singing  of  birds, 
A  warbling  band, 
And  the  purling  words 
Of  brooks  and  waters  are  heard  in  our  land. 

REPEAT. — The  time  it  is  of  the  singing  of  birds, 

The  singing  of  birds, 

A  warbling  band, 

And  the  Spirit's  voice  ! 
The  voice  of  the  Turtle  is  heard  in  our  land. 


THE     BUTTERFLY. 

I  HAVE  said  to  corruption  thou  art  my  father  ;  to  the  worm 
thou  art  my  mother  and  my  sister.— JOB,  xvii.,  14. 


WHERE  the  grave-digger  plies  his  fearful  trade, 

With  mattock  and  with  spade, 
Upturning  bones  and  skulls  of  hollow  eye, 
Oft  lights  upon  a  head,  the  butterfly, 
Cresting  its  forehead  with  a  gaudy  wing, 
And   Muttering,    like  a  soul,    about   that  horrid 
thing. 

2. 
An  idle  thought  ;  but,  in  that  garden's  bound, 

That  place  of  skulls  around, 
Hovered,  perchance,  that  day  the  Saviour  rose, 
The  Tyrian  moth,  as  beautiful  as  those 
Whose  purpled  pinions  glitter  in  the  sun 
Of  Ormuz  or  of  Ind,  arrayed  like  Solomon. 

3- 
Nor  deem  it  vain,  a  worm  may  seem  sublime 

In  Easter's  golden  prime, 

Thus  deck'd,  and  flitting  like  embodied  breath 
That  pants  in  resurrection  out  of  death, 
For  thus  to  me  a  parable  is  shown  ; 
What  Christ  of  lilies  spake  expounds  not  flowers 
alone. 


138  THE   BUTTERFLY. 

4- 
For  if  a  worm  in  winding-sheet  down  lies, 

Instinct  with  power  to  rise  ; 
If  the    poor    thing    that    crawled    may   soar — a 

nymph, 

That  fed  on  dust — may  suck  the  honey 'cl  lymph, 
That  rotted  in  dishonour — may  be  seen 
Transfigur'd  ev'n  like  him  that  dazzled  Sheba's 
Queen. 

5- 
Oh  !  faithless  we,  shall  God  so  clothe  a  worm, 

So  raise  from  earth  that  form, 
And  leave  His  children  dear,  in  icy  shade, 
All  unremember'd  and  forgotten  laid  ? 
Shall   we,    when   Christ    returns,    less    glorious 

spring 

Out  of  the  dust  of  death  than  that  transfigur'd 
thing  ? 


EASTER-EGGS. 

MY  hand  hath  found,  as  a  nest,  the  riches  of  the  people, 
and  as  one  gathereth  eggs. — ISAIAH  x.  14. 


MY  godson,  dear  delighted  child, 
Held  up  his  Easter-eggs,  and  wild 

With  Easter-mirth,  ranged  here  and  there, 
To  show  their  colours,  manifold, 
Their  dappled  hues,  their  blue  and  gold, 

Like  mossy  agates  rich  and  rare. 


Nonsense  profane  for  Easter  day, 
Away  with  toys — the  churl  might  say  : 

But  nay,  dear  boy,  hear  words  of  mine  ! 
These  colours  kindly  Art  hath  made; 
But  hidden  in  the  forest's  shade, 

The  birds  have  brighter  eggs  than  thine. 

3- 

Where  thickest  hazels  weave  a  screen, 
The  school-boy  prying  through  the  green, 

When  blossoms  first  the  fragrant  May, 
Spies,  deep  the  tangled  boughs  amid, 
The  mother-bird,  in  nest  half-hid, 

Till — there,  alas  !  she  whirrs  away. 


140  EASTER-EGGS. 

4- 

He  gazes — but  he  scorns  a  theft  : 
What  pebbles  in  her  nest  she  left, 

What  marvels  and  what  wondrous  dyes  ! 
How  strange,  beneath  a  warbler's  wings, 
That  God  should  hide  such  mystic  things 

From  man's  cold  heart  and  faithless  eyes. 

5- 

Night's  glitt'ring  worlds  the  Maker  plann'd, 
Yet  deigned  the  same  Almighty  hand 

To  deck  the  little  linnet's  nest, 
And  freak  with  many  a  brilliant  boss, 
Those  pearls,  within  their  bed  of  moss, 

She  presses  with  maternal  breast. 

6. 

Then  let  the  precious  gems  lie  hid  ; 
For  so  thy  mother,  boy,  would  bid, 

She  that  hath  made  thy  bed  so  soft  ; 
Yet  come  thou  mayest,  to  watch  the  spot, 
Till  forth  from  each  enamell'd  grot, 

Breaks  life,  at  last,  and  springs  aloft. 

7- 

Heavenward  it  soars,  and  soaring,  sings 
An  Easter-song,  on  joyous  wings, 

For  lo  !  what  seem'd  a  stone  is  rent  ; 
Like  Joseph's  sepulchre  it  breaks  ; 
Forth  springs  a  living  thing,  and  wakes 

Each  list'ning  ear  to  ravishment. 


EASTER-EGGS.  141 


There's  not  a  wing  that  cleaves  the  sky 
But  once  did,  like  the  Saviour,  lie 

All  seal'd,  as  in  a  stony  grave. 
These  creatures  scarce  to  earth  belong  ; 
They  fill  the  firmament  with  song; 

They  sing  the  Lamb  that  died  to  save. 

9- 

The  Resurrection  and  the  Life 
Well  may  their  nests,  with  myst'ry  rife 

To  man's  dull  soul  and  sense  portend. 
So,  when  Christ's  coming  gilds  its  gloom, 
Shall  break  the  torpor  of  the  tomb  ; 

So,  shall  the  sons  of  God  ascend. 

10. 

And  such  the  sympathy,  they  say, 
Of  birds  with  Christ,  on  Easter-Day, 

When  from  His  rocky  tomb  He  sprung, 
That  every  egg,  in  every  nest 
Of  Golgotha,  gave  forth  its  guest, 

And  with  their  songs  the  garden  rung. 


As  seeds  to  flowers,  so  eggs  had  turn'd 
To  brilliant  things  the  earth  that  spurn'd, 

And  sought  the  skies  on  gladsome  wing 
Birds  of  all  plumages,  'tis  said, 
Sung — Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead, 

And  taught  us  Easter-hymns  to  sing. 


142  EASTER-EGGS. 


And  so,  where  Carmel's  lily  grows, 
Where  wafts  the  scent  of  Sharon's  rose, 

Where  warbles  sweet  Siloah's  rill, 
The  pilgrim,  at  the  Paschal-tide, 
May  hear,  with  many  a  song  beside, 

The  turtle's  voice  of  rapture  still. 

13- 

Then  marvel  not,  where  mystery  lies 
Of  life  in  eggs,  that  God  most  wise 

Disdains  not,  thus,  to  bid  us  learn  ; 
Teaching  alike  the  boy  and  man  ' 
By  faith  fond  Nature's  lore  to  scan, 

With  childlike  hearts  within  that  burn. 

14- 

So  she,  the  Second  Adam's  Bride, 
That  rose  like  Eve  from  Jesu's  side, 

Of  Him  "  who  dwells  in  gardens  "  sings, 
And  still  in  gardens  hears  His  voice, 
Where  birds,  at  Easter-tide  rejoice, 

And  every  nest  breaks  forth  and  sings. 


THE  ROYAL  YARN. 

1.  BIND  this  line  of  scarlet  thread  in  the  window. — JOSHUA, 
ii.  18. 

2.  Take  cedar-wood,  scarlet,  and  hyssop. — LEVIT.  xiv.  4. 

3.  He  took  blood  and  water,  and  scarlet  wool,  and  hys- 
sop.— HEB.  ix.  19. 


SHONE  the  sun,  that  Easter-Monday, 

O'er  the  new-grown  grass  and  green, 
O'er  the  pleasant  slopes  of  Greenwich 

And  the  sports  that  there  were  seen  : 
But,  while  youth  around  me  frolicked 

In  that  holiday  of  Spring, 
Sat  I  by  an  ancient  sailor, 

With  the  sailor  gossiping. 

2. 

Told  he  me  how,  under  Nelson, 

From  the  Indies  to  the  Nile, 
Served  he,  till  at  fierce  Trafalgar, 

He  had  seen  .his  dying  smile  : 
How  he  whisper'd — "  Kiss  me,  Hardy," 

How  in  death  he  laid  him  clown: 
But  he  sigh'd  that  such  a  hero 

Fought  not  under  Jesu's  Crown. 


144  THK   ROYAL    YARN. 

3- 

Changed  his  gossip  as  I  questioned 

How  his  sailor-life,  so  free, 
Him  had  made  so  good  a  Christian  : 

"  'Twas  the  royal  yarn,"  quoth  he. 
"  Through  my  life,  that  thread  is  woven  ; 

With  my  christ'ning  it  began  ; 
1    Everywhere,  that  kingly  token 

Marks  my  story,  boy  and  man." 

4- 

'     "  Now,  you  know,"  quoth  he,  "  good  Master, 

How  the  royal  yarn  is  sign 
I    That  the  Crown  claims  all  that  bears  it, 

Canvass,  cordage,  rope,  and  twine  ; 
So,  one  time,  I  heard  the  parson 

Say,  by  Faith  we  might  discern 
Woven  in  our  life  and  fortunes 
Christ  our  Saviour's  royal  yarn  : " 


5- 

"  How  we  are  His  Crown's  possession, 

Marked  for  Him  ;  and  by  this  clue 
We  may  trace  His  grace  and  goodness 

Running  all  our  lifetime  through. 
What  the  parson  preach'd  I  thought  of  "- 

So  the  sailor's  tale  ran  on, 
"  When  off  Moro-Castle  lying, 

Sick  I  lay  and  well  nigh  gone." 


THE    ROYAL    YARN.  145 

6. 

"  For  the  royal  yarn  was  woven 

In  my  hammock  as  I  swung, 
And  my  conscience  saw  another 

All  my  threads  of  life  among  ; 
So  upon  my  weary  pallet, 

As  I  turn'd  and  thought  it  o'er, 
Swore  1,  to  Christ's  Crown  forever 

I'd  be  faithful,  ship  and  shore." 

7- 

Prosed  yet  more  that  ancient  sailor. 

But  no  more  his  yarn  I  heard  : 
For  another  thought  had  started 

In  my  spirit,  at  his  word  : 
For  that  sign  of  Crown-possession, 

And  that  thread  of  royal  hue 
Gave  me  insight  of  the  Scriptures  ; 

Gave  me  to  its  types  a  clue. 

8. 

Of  the  Royal  line  of  Judah, 

See  what  scarlet  symbols  show  ; 
See  how,  like  the  weaver's  shuttle,, 

Prophets  thread  them  to  and  fro  ; 
How,  on  Zarah's  wrist  withdrawing, 

Scarlet  mark'd  redemption's  claim  ; 
How,  in  Rahab's  window  glowing, 

Twas  Messiah's  royal  Name. 
10 


146  THE    ROYAL  YARN. 

9- 
So  the  scarlet  wool  of  Moses 

Did  the  scarlet  robe  foretell, 
So,  proclaiming — Ecce  Homo, 

Jesus  King  of  Israel, 
Through  the  symbols  of  His  passion 

Scourges,  thorns,  and  scoffs  amid, 
Weaves  this  one  Imperial  token, 

Gleaming  forth,  or  deftly  hid. 


And  the  Bride,  with  lips  of  scarlet, 

Thus  expounds  the  mystic  Word, 
Where  with  hyssop,  and  with  cedar, 

Scarlet  binds  the  living  bird  ; 
Where,  through  all  the  Scriptures  woven, 

Bright  this  royal  yarn  is  seen, 
Everywhere  Messiah's  token, 

Token  of  the  Nazarene. 


EASTER   VIRELAY. 

WAKE  thou  that  sleepest  and  arise  from  the  dead  and 
Christ  shall  give  thee  light. — EPHESIANS,  v.  14. 

I. 

WAKE  thou  that  sleepest  ! 
Joy  thou  that  weepest, 

Lift  up  the  head  ! 
Cease  from  thy  moaning 
Sighing  and  groaning, 

Rise  from  the  dead. 

2. 

Weary  wayfarer, 
Fainting  cross-bearer, 

Bending  adown  ; 
Hark  !  how  the  Spirit 
Bids  thee  inherit 

Life  and  a  crown. 

3- 

Lo  !  to  restore  thee 
Christ  goes  before  thee, 

Through  the  deep  vale, 
Gloomy  and  darkling  ; 
Paradise  sparkling 

There  shall  unveil. 


148  EASTER    VIRELAY. 

4- 

Flee  to  the  mountain  ! 
There,  find  the  fountain  ; 

Wash  and  be  white. 
Joy  thou  that  weepest, 
Wake  thou  that  sleepest, 

Christ  gives  thee  light. 


SONG   FOR   EASTER. 

BREAK  forth  into  singing.— ISAIAH. 
I. 

CHRIST  hath  arisen  ! 

Broken  His  prison, 

Man  to  deliver 

From  death's  gloomy  reign. 
Victor  Immortal  ! 
Hell's  gloomy  portal 
Of  brass  and  of  iron 
He  rendeth  in  twain. 


Wake  every  nation  ! 
Songs  of  salvation 

Round  the  great  earth 

Let  them  echo  to-day. 
Life  to  the  dying  ! 
Sorrow  and  sighing 
The  sunrise  of  glory 
Hath  driven  away. 

3- 

Darkness  hath  vanished  ! 
Death's  sting  is  banished  : 
See  the  bright  mansions 
Of  Paradise  ope  ! 


15°  SONG   FOR   EASTER. 

Grave  thou  art  broken  ; 
Jesus  hath  spoken 
Joy  to  the  Universe, 
Glory  and  Hope. 

4- 

Tell  how  He  liveth  : 
Sing  what  He  giveth  ; 
Sound  the  great  name 

Of  the  risen  I-AM 
Feed  on  His  manna  : 
Raise  the  Hosanna  ! 
Full  be  the  choral-song 
Worthy  the  Lamb. 


EASTER  IN  PATMOS. 

I  WAS  in  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  the  Lord.— REVELATION, 
i.  10. 

I. 

TWAS  on  the  day  the  Lord  had  made, 

The  day  that  rent  his  rocky  tomb, 
St.  John  in  lonely  Patmos  strayed, 

While  glorious,  as  from  ocean's  womb, 
Arose  the  sun — and  lo  !  there  came 

A  trumpet  voice;  the  exile  turned, 
And  One  whose  eyes  were  fiery  flame 
He  saw — the  Word  of  God  His  Name, 

Where  sevenfold  lights  about  him  burned. 


In  rapture,  by  that  sea-girt  shore, 

He  Jesus  sees,  whom  Jesus  loved, 
Who  was  and  is  forevermore, 

Faithful  and  true  His  promise  proved. 
Breathes  from  his  lips  the  Spirit's  sword, 

Shines  from  his  face  the  noon-tide  sun 
Of  death  and  hell  the  mighty  Lord, 
His  are  the  keys  and  His  the  Word 

Of  Life — the  everlasting  One. 

3- 
A  voice  of  many  waters — His, 

Who  liveth  and  was  dead  the  while  ; 


152  EASTER   IN   PATMOS. 

He  opes  the  seven-seal'd  book,  and  this 

Is  Easter  in  that  holy  isle  : 
A  vision  of  the  Lamb  and  throne, 

Of  Judah's  Lion  and  His  might, 
Worthy  to  loose  the  seals  alone, 
And  all  the  Church's  way  make  known, 

Through  death  and  darkness  into  light. 


4- 

The  Paschal  hymns  of  heaven  are  heard, 

The  Lamb  that  once  was  slain,  their  song- 
From  numbers  without  numbers  stirred, 

Response  with  rapture  to  prolong. 
I  read  and  lo  !  I  seem  to  hear 

From  great  creation's  dawn  and  end, 
From  earth  and  sky  and  every  sphere, 
One  Alleluia  broad  and  clear, 

From  all  the  sons  of  God  ascend. 


5- 
Day  of  the  Lord,  of  year  or  week, 

Whene'er  it  shines  a  Paschal  Feast, 
On  that  blest  day  His  flock  to  seek 

The  Shepherd  comes,  our  Great  High  Priest; 
Comes  to  our  sins  a  flame  of  fire, 

Comes  to  our  faith  like  Gilead's  balm, 
Comes  to  our  love  and  fond  desire, 
And  joins  us  to  the  heavenly  choir 

In  that  eternal  Paschal  Psalm. 


EASTER    IN    PATMOS.  153 

6. 

He  comes,  our  prophet,  priest  and  king, 

That  Alpha  and  Omega  scroll 
To  open,  and  what  Time  shall  bring — 

Age  upon  ages — to  unroll. 
Of  earth  and  heaven  the  keynote  words 

He  gives  His  suffering  saints  to  guide, 
Till  ceaseth  din  of  spears  and  swords, 
Till  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords, 

He  comes  again  to  crown  His  Bride. 

7- 
Descends  the  New  Jerusalem  ; 

He  reigns  who  maketh  all  things  new  ; 
The  Church  in  sparkling  diadem, 

In  white  those  virgin  souls  we  view. 
The  sea  of  glass,  so  bright  and  calm, 

Glitters  the  rainbow'cl  throne  before, 
And  sounds  th'  eternal  Paschal  Psalm, 
That  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb, 

With  Alleluias,  evermore. 


THE  ANGELS  ON  THE  ARK. 

To  the  intent  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers 
in  heavenly  places  might  be  known  by  the  Church,  etc. — 
EPHESIANS,  iii.  to. 

I. 
THE  cherubim  o'ershadowing  the  Ark 

Looked  down  upon  the  mercy-seat  that  shone, 
And  covered  o'er  the  Law  profoundly  dark, 

Those  tables  twain  by  Moses  hewn  of  stone  ; 

That  writing  of  no  hand  save  God's  alone, 
That  was  against  us — flaming  red, 
Like  Tekel  on  the  wall  so  dread, 
To  poor  Belshazzar's  ear  that  was  interpreted. 

2. 

What  things  those  cherubs  seemed  intent  to  scan 

The  same  all  angels  scan  with  awe  to-day  ; 
The  Law's  dire  curse,  condemning  sinful  man, 
By  mercy  covered — ta'en  by  it  away. 
And  oh,  the  depth  !  still,  oh  !  the  depth — they 

say  : 

The  depth  and  height  and  breadth  sublime 
Of  Jesu's  mercy  covering  crime, 
Of  Christ,  the  only  Ark,  the  Word  made  flesh  in. 
time. 

3- 

Bring  forth  the  deaf  with  ears  that  will  not  hear, 
Bring  forth  the  blind  with  eyes  that  will  not 
see 


THK   ANGKLS   ON    THK   ARK.  155 

What  wondrous  things  are  in  that  Law  austere, 
Beneath  that  golden  lid  enshrined  that  be, 
Where  the  Shekinah  shines  eternally. 

Behold  !  the  Ark,  God's  glorious  Son, 

Th"  atoning  Lamb,  the  Holy  One, 

That  takes  away  our  sins  :  He  bleeds  and  it  is 
done. 

4- 

Lo  !  when  on  earth,  responsive  to  the  skies, 
Uprises  like  a  cloud  upon  the  gale, 

The  incense  of  our  Easter  sacrifice, 

When  the  pure  altar's  mysteries  unveil, 
And  high  Trisagion  thrills  our  spirits  frail, 

In  holy  awe  and  thought  intent, 

I  seem  to  see  all  heaven  down  bent, 

To  learn  from  saints  below  new  songs  of  ravish- 
ment. 

5- 
New   songs,    which   none    but   pardon'd   sinners 

know  ; 

Love  which  the  much- forgiven  alone  can  feel ; 
The  love  of  Christ  to  heirs  of  sin  and  woe ; 

These  to  the  height  of  heaven  our  deeds  reveal. 
The  chariots  of  God,  on  burning  wheel, 
Pause  in  full  course  our  hymns  to  hear ; 
Legions  of  angels  bow  their  ear, 
And  through  the  Church  on  earth  they  draw  to 
God  more  near. 


RHODA. 

A  DAMSEL  named  Rose. — Acts,  xii.  13. 
I. 

SWEET  Paschal  Rose,  thy  fragrant  name 
Blossoms  in  all  the  golden  flame 
»      Of  that  blest  Easter  Morn, 
When  Peter,  from  the  bonds  abhorr'd 
Of  Herod  and  his  threatened  sword, 
Rose  glorious,  like  His  risen  Lord,  . 
To  light  and  life  new-born. 

2. 

Dark  was  the  Paschal  Eve,  that  year, 
When  met  the  trembling  saints  in  fear, 

All  night  for  him  to  pray. 
The  great  apostle,  doom'd  to  die, 
Though  soaring  where  the  angels  fly, 
Must  leave  the  flock  forlorn  to  sigh, 

Ev'n  on  an  Easter-Day. 

3- 

Meanwhile,  in  prison-bonds  he  slept, 
Peaceful — yet  dreaming  that  he  wept 

Once  more  his  shameful  fall : 
"  Dear  Master,"  in  his  dream,  said  he, 
"  My  oath,  at  last,  redeemed  shall  be  ; 
In  chains  and  death  I  follow  Thee  ; 

My  sin — forgive  it  all  !  " 


RHODA.  157 

4- 

Again,  the  crowing  cock  he  hears, 
And  flow  afresh  those  bitter  tears  : 

But — does  he  wake  or  sleep  ? 
Like  Lot's,  his  hand  an  angel  takes : 
From  hands  and  feet  the  chains  he  shakes, 
Bars  fall  and  every  barrier  breaks— 

"Go,  Peter  !  feed  my  sheep." 

5- 

The  guards  are  passed,  strong  gates  unfold, 
He  breathes  sweet  air  !     A  morn  of  gold 

Reddens  the  eastern  skies. 
From  death's  dark  dungeon  of  the  night, 
A  parable  of  Jesus'  might, 
He  rises  into  life  and  light, 

As  all  the  saints  shall  rise. 

6. 

Tis  Easter  ;  and  while  yet  'tis  dark, 
The  faithful,  like  the  soaring  lark, 

Have  changed  to  praise  their  prayer  : 
At  Mary's  gate  is  heard  a  knock  ! 
And  Rhoda  hastes  to  loose  its  lock — 
When  oh  !  what  voice,  with  wonder's  shock, 

Sounds  on  her  startled  ear  ! 

7- 

Affrighted  child  she  backward  hies  : 
"  Tis  Cephas  at  the  door,"  she  cries, 

While  still  he  knocks  and  waits  : 


158  RHODA. 

His  angel  ?     Nay,  himself!     Tis  he  : 
The  Lord  hath  set  his  pris'ner  free  ! 
Once  more  the  Church  his  face  shall  see  ! 
Go  haste,  unbar  the  gates  ! 


Sweet  Rose,  of  Easter  flowers  the  first, 
So  did  that  Paschal  morning  burst 

On  thine  elected  sight  ! 
Damsel  august,  though  meek  of  mien, 
In  Holy  Writ,  with  saintly  sheen, 
Stands  thy  blest  name  !     No  sceptred  queen 

Wears  diadem  so  bright. 

9- 

Therefore,  where  Easter  altars  shine, 
One  rose  with  Easter  flowers  entwine, 

Her  name  still  fresh  to  keep  ! 
Children,  like  her — his  lambs — to  bear, 
The  Shepherd  loves  ;  and  thousands  there 
Follow  the  Lamb  in  pastures  fair 

Where  Jesus  folds  His  sheep. 


THE    WALK   TO    EMMAUS. 

OF  which  salvation  the  prophets  have  inquired.  .  .  . 
Searching  what  or  what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
which  was  in  them,  did  signify,  when  it  testified  beforehand 
the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  the  glory  that  should  follow.— I 
ST.  PETER,  i.  n. 

DID  not  our  heart  burn  within  us,  while  He  talked  with 
us  by  the  way  and  while  He  opened  to  us  the  Scriptures. — 
ST.  LUKE,  xxiv.  32. 

I. 

ONCE  gazing  on  a  craftsman's  curious.die 
Deep  in  the  temper'd  metal  wrought, 

I  strove  its  cunning  plan  to  spy, 
Yet  seem'd  to  profit  naught. 

The  quaint  device  was  intricate  and  blind  : 

Backward  the  figures  ran,  its  scheme  I  could  not 
find. 

2. 

Smiled  at  my  task  the  artist,  as  he  came 
Bearing  embossed  a  golden  shield  ; 

Its  rich  devices  fla?hed  like  flame 
And  in  its  light,  revealed, 

I  saw  the  mystery  and  sublime  intent 

That  in  the  matrice  dark  me  foiled  with  wonder- 
ment. 

3- 

Great  God  thy  wondrous  ways  and  work  obscure 
Seem'd  in  that  happy  art  exposed  : 


l6o  THE   WALK   TO   EMMAUS. 

Dropt  from  mine  eyes  the  scales  impure 

That  Faith's  clear  eyesight  closed. 
Of  dim  prophetic  signs  I  felt  the  scope, 
And  saw,  the  veil  withdrawn,  thy  glorious  coun- 
sels ope. 


Before  all  worlds,  Faith's  shield  of  shining  gold 

With  God's  device  was  glorified, 
Where  wondering  angels  might  behold 

The  Lamb  of  God  that  died  ; 
There  stood  His  cross,  with  types  to  intertwine, 
Tokens  so  rich  and  rare,  enwreathed  with  His 
true  Vine. 

5- 

That  shield  the  Gospel  shows  in  all  its  light  ; 

But  till  that  came — the  matrice  dark 
God  gave  to  be  explored,  by  night, 

As  'twere  the  Holy  Ark 
Within  the  veil, — a  mystery  sublime, 
To  be  devoutly  kept  for  His  appointed  time. 


So,  all  that  hoary  seers  and  prophets  gave, 

All  that  by  lips  inspired  was  sung 
In  SalenVs  royal  halls,  by  Chebar's  wave, 

Or  Uzzian  rocks  among  ; 
First,  in  the  Gospel's  gold  I  rightly  scan  ; 
Then  trace  the  mould  obscure  to  find  the  Son 
of  Man. 


THE   WALK   TO    EMMAUS.  l6l 

7- 

So,  while  I  gaze,  how  burns  within  my  heart, 
Though  all  around  me  owlets  hoot, 

To  scan  the  emblems  of  the  graver's  art, 
Olive  and  vine  and  fruit, 

Enfolding  and  emblazoning  the  cross, 

Incisions  deeply  sunk  and  dark  inverted  boss. 


The  backward  letters  of  the  groping  Jew, 
Thus  searching  out  I  read  aright  ; 

Mosaic  symbols  strange  and  dim  to  view 
Now  flash  with  Tabor's  light  ; 

The  mystic  seal  by  what  it  stamps  is  known, 

The  Gospel  in  the  Law  by  prophecy  foreshown. 

9- 
O  fools  and  slow  of  heart,  as  Jesus  said, 

Are  they,  of  dullard  wit  and  cold, 
Who  set  their  barren  brains  and  lore  of  lead 

Against  this  lore  of  gold. 
Reading  Mosaic  mould  and  prophet's  page 
All  uncom pared  with  Christ  and  His  foretoken'd 


For  me,  not  so  the  prophets'  goodly  band 
Unfold  the  characters  they  traced  ; 

Which  ev'n  their  ken  might  fail  to  understand, 
Till  all  bv  Faith  embraced, 


1 62  THE   WALK   TO   EMMAUS. 

Searching  of  what  and  whose  blest  days  they 
sung, 

While  Christ  himself  within  inspired  each  rap- 
turous toiv>ue. 


Great  pupil  of  Gamaliel,  oft  with  thee, 

As  at  thy  saintly  feet  I  learn, 
I  seem,  outshining  noontide,  Christ  to  see,  . 

And  His  dear  cross  discern, 
Where,  hut  for  thee,  and  thine  anointed  eyes, 
Naught   hut   dull    forms    abound   and  senseless 
sacrifice. 

12. 

Or  walking  to  Emmaus,  with  the  twain, 
'Neath  the  first  Easter's  Evening  Star, 
Me  Christ  draws  near,  nor  shows  his  hands  in 

vain, 

And  in  His  side  the  scar, 

Sprinkling  the  Book  with  hyssop  and  with  gore, 
That  so   who  runs  may  read  and  live  forever- 
more. 


THE  EARTHQUAKE. 

THERE  was  a  great  earthquake. — ST.  MATT,  xxviii.  2. 

Early  in  the  morning.— Ps.  v.  3. 

I  myself  will  awake  right  early. — Ps.  Ivii.  9. 

I. 

THE  sun  leaps  up  the  golden  skies, 

And  seems  to  say, 
Ev'n  so  the  Son  of  God  did  rise 

On  Easter-Day  : 
Then  early  from  my  bed  let  me 

Rise  on  the  Resurrection  Morn  ; 

The  dancing  sunbeams  let  me  see 

Soon  as  the  joyous  feast  is  born. 

Yes,  early  to  the  church  away  : 

'Tis  Easter-Day,  'tis  Easter-Day  ! 

2. 

The  moon  went  down,  and  in  the  dark 

The  garden  lay, 
Nor  yet  had  lifted  wing  the  lark 

That  Easter-Day, 
When  holy  women,  as  they  went 
To  seek  the  glorious  slumberer, 
Felt,  as  if  earth  itself  were  rent, 

The  shock  that  shook  the  sepulchre  : 

For  leap'cl  the  mountains  far  away, 

That  Easter-Day— that  Easter-Day. 


164  THE    EARTHQUAKE. 


Ta.bor  and  Hermon  skipped  like  rams 

In  gladsome  May  ; 
And  leap'd  the  little  hills  like  lambs, 

That  Easter-Day. 
From  Libanus,  like  thunder  heard — 

That  rumbles  in  the  distant  sky, 
Came  sounds  as  if  the  mountains  stirr'd 
To  lift  their  hoary  heads  on  high. 

Trembled  the  earth  at  morning's  ray, 

That  Easter-Day — that  Easter-Day. 

4- 
For  then,  as  w«ith  the  lightning's  stroke, 

Was  roll'd  away 
The  massy  stone  ;  and  God  awoke, 

That  Easter-Day  ! 
Frightened  the  Roman  sentries  fell, 

Then  fled  as  from  the  day  of  doom  ; 
They  heard  the  rending  gates  of  hell, 

They  sa'w  a  birth  from  morning's  womb  : 
Forth  shone  the  Christ,  to  live  for  aye, 
That  Easter-Day — that  Easter-Day. 

5- 
What  ailed  thee,  ocean  ?     Saw,  and  fled 

Thy  waves  away  ! 
And  Jordan — vanished  from  its  bed, 

That  Easter-Day. 
Nature's  untutored  worshipper 

Who  deemed  his  god  was  dead,  yestreen, 


THE   EARTHQUAKE.  165 

Far  off  a-t  sea—  poor  mariner, 
Cried  —  "the  Great  Pan  revives,  I  ween," 
For  so  the  pagan,  in  his  way, 
Kept  Easter-Day  —  kept  Easter-Day. 

6. 
But  not  those  gracious  women  turn'd, 

Not  they  !     Not  they  ! 
Brighter  their  faith  within  them  burned 

That  Easter-Day. 
And  now  the  flying  guards  they  met, 

And  now  the  garden's  wall  was  nigh  ; 
There  stood  the  ghastly  crosses  yet  ; 
t  They  saw,  and  uttered  with  a  sigh  — 

"  But  who  shall  roll  the  stone  away  ?  " 
'Twas  Easter-Day,  'twas  Easter-  Day. 

7- 
Then  came  of  faith  the  great  reward  : 

Begone  dismay  ! 
Angels  they  met  —  not  yet  their  Lord  — 

That  Easter-Day. 
"  Here  seek  Him  not"  —  the  angels  said  — 

"  The  Lord  is  risen  ;  search  not  here  ! 
Why  seek  the  living  'midst  the  dead  ? 
Go  tell  His  flock  the  Lord  is  near, 

Behold  the  place  where  Jesus  lay  !" 
'Twas  Easter-Day  —  'twas  Easter-Day. 

8. 

Then,  like  those  Marys,  let  us  rise, 
' 


Ere  morning's  ray, 


l66  THE    EARTHQUAKE. 

Before  the  dayspring  greets  our  eyes 

On  Easter-Day  ; 
Forth  to  His  altar,  hasten  we 

Where  faith  beholds  His  presence  sweet, 
For  Christ  is  with  His  two  or  three, 
That  worship  at  the  mercy-seat. 

Right  early  let  us  wake  to  pray, 
On  Easter-Day — on  Easter-Day  ! 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  LIFE. 

DOST    thou    show  wonders    among  the   d$ad? — PSALM, 
Ixxxviii.  10. 

How  are  the  dead  raised  up  ? — I.  COR.  xv.  35. 

I. 

MASTER,  we  see  Thy  signs, 

The  wonders  wrought  by  Thee,  yet  fail  in  faith; 
Thy  power  of  life  we  see,  yet  cling  to  death, 

Like  those  who  dwell  in  mines, 

And  burrow  like  blind  moles  ev'n  where  the 
daylight  shines. 

2. 

Saviour,  Thy  signs  we  see, 
In  things  discovered  late  by  human  thought, 
But  proudly  claim'd,  as  if  by  mortals  wrought, 

Though  all  vouchsafed  by  Thee — 

And  given  in  Thy  good  time,  as  Time's  occa- 
sion be. 

3- 

Why,  if  the  human  mind 
Moves  of  itself  and  is  its  own  quick  spring, 
Is  progress  slow  to  mark  the  simplest  thing  ? 
Why,  for  long  ages  blind — 
Where  God   points  out  the  way— lags  mortal 
writ  behind  ? 


1 68  THE   MYSTERY    OF   LIFE. 

• 

4- 

Thou  givest  power  to  men 
To  stretch  their  wiry  fibres  "neath  the  sea, 
And  bid  the  lightings  go,  in  mimicry 

Of  power  divine.     Why  then 

Doubt    we  Thy  power  to  work    beyond    our 
feeble  ken  ? 

5- 

Thus,  in  Thy  days  below, 
Thy  word  ran  swiftly,  and  was  felt  afar 
Like  arrowy  rays  of  sun  or  faintest  star, 
Soothing  a  sufferer's  woe: 
No  need  of  clumsy  wires  to  bid  Thy  lightings 
go  ! 

6 

A  father  told  his  grief, 
And  in  a  moment,  on  his  bed  of  pain, 
The  lov'd  one,  far  away,  felt  life  again  ; 

Of  sons  of  men  the  Chief 

Gave  but  His  word  to  heal  and  came  the  swift 
relief  • 

7- 

We  note  the  comet's  blaze  : 
Nay— Thy    sweet    law    makes    music    'mid    the 

spheres ; 

Yet  in  the  ordered  course  of  days  and  years 
Men  fail  to  see  Thy  ways — 
Marvels  of  boundless  power  that  angels  might 
amaze. 


THE   MYSTERY    OF   LIFE.  169 


Wonders  among  the  dead 

Thou  showest  when  the  flowery  spring  returns 
And  clothes  the  fields  and  woods  with  flowers 

'   and  ferns  ; 

Or  where  mankind  is  fed 

By  the   mere   corn    of  wheat   that   multiplies 
their  bread. 

9- 

Or  where  the  mummy's  hand 
Gives  up  perchance  the  grains  that  Joseph  stored, 
And  lo  !  though  ages  held  the  secret  hoard, 
It  lives  at  thy  command, 

And  harvests  of  that  seed  are  gathered  from 
the  land. 

10. 

Shall  God  revive  that  corn 
And  not  the  coffin'd  flesh  that  held,  so  long, 
A  buried  thing  in  Death's  enthrallment  strong  ? 

Shame  on  the  fool's  poor  scorn, 
We  see  in  signs  like  these  the  breaking  of  the 
morn. 


EUDORA. 

A  GRACIOUS  woman  retaineth  honour.— PROVERBS,  xi.  16. 


HER  smile  was  many  smiles  in  one; 

As  o'er  the  dimpled  tide, 
A  wavy  laughter  seems  to  run, 

Where  gentle  waters  glide. 


It  came  as  comes  the  morning  star 

Day  after  day  so  bright, 
To  set  the  pearly  doors  ajar, 

And  usher  in  the  light. 

3- 

Sweet  sister  !  from  my  sight  removed- 

Upon  the  shining  shore, 
So  pure,  so  glad,  so  stainless  proved, 

Lives  then  that  smile  no  more  ? 

4- 

When  angels  bore  her  radiant  sprite 

To  Paradise,  meseems 
Her  smile  met  theirs  in  calm  delight, 

Commingling  kindred  beams. 


EUDORA.  171 

5- 

She  slept  and  seemed  to  smile  in  sleep  ; 

'Twas  on  the  Lady-Day 
She  went  her  Easter-tide  to  keep, 

Where  Easter  reigns  for  aye. 

6. 

That  smile  upon  her  features  played 

When,  raimented  in  white, 
Her  form  in  soft  repose  was  laid, 

And  seemed  a  saint  in  light. 

7- 

Oh  !  can  it  he,  if  e'er  shall  meet 

Again  thy  soul  with  mine, 
A  smile  so  heavenly  and  so  sweet 

Shall  he  no  longer  thine  ? 


Transformed,  but  yet  the  same  to  view, 

Was  Abr'am  seen  afar  : 
So  Moses  and  Elias  flew 

Anear  the  Morning  Star  ; 

9- 

And  saints  that  with  the  Saviour  rose 

In  their  immortal  sheen 
Were  yet  the  same  that  slept — like  those 

By  John  in  Patmos  seen. 


172  EUDORA. 

IO. 

All  tears  from  off  all  faces — He 
The  Lamb  Himself  shall  dry, 

But  that  sweet  smile  He  gave  to  thee 
Methinks  shall  never  die. 

II. 

On  some,  made  meet  for  worlds  more  fair, 

While  here  they  linger  yet, 
Not  all  of  earth  are  graces  rare 

That  like  a  seal  are  set.' 

12. 
And  we  shall  know  thee,  still  the  same; 

By  that  transporting  charm, 
If  but,  like  thine,  our  faith  may  claim 

The  Everlasting  Arm. 


THE    INNOCENTS. 

REFRAIN  thy  voice  from  weeping  and  thine  eyes  from 
tears,  for  ....  thy  children  shall  come  again  to  thei. 
own  border.— JEREMIAH,  xxxi.  17. 

I. 

READING  the  stones  that  marked  a  field  of  death, 
I  heard  a  sigh,  as  'mid  the  mounds  i  trod  : 

It  seem'd  to  say — as  'twere  with  sobbing  breath — 
My  heart  is  buried  here,  O  Christ,  my  God  ! 


A  mother  by  a  new-made  bed  that  knelt, 

I  saw — and  turned  my  steps  with  rev'rent  fear  ; 
Yet  lingering  in  the  church-yard  walks,  I  felt, 

Dear  Lord  !    how   many  hearts  are   hoarded 
here. 

3- 
How  many  buds  and  blossoms  of  the  spring, 

By  frosts  too  early  nipp'd,  lie  thickly  strown  ; 
Or  like  the  swallows  oft,  on  eager  wing, 

That  come  untimely  and  too  soon  are  flown. 

4- 
Yet  'neath  these  heaps  of  buried  hopes  that  tell 

Are  sown  not  less  the  seeds  of  life's  return  : 
God's  ore  is  treasured  in  each  narrow  cell, 

Where  gold  refines  and  only  dross  can  burn. 


174  THE   INNOCENTS. 

5- 
Oh  !  weep  not,  mother,  o'er  that  bed  of  love 

Where  innocence  awaits  the  trumpet's  sound, 
While  many  a  mother  mourns  her  dead  above    . 

And  weeps  no  more  for  children  under  ground. 

6. 
But  come  this  way  when  holy  hymns  are  sung, 

And  sounds  the  air  with  Paschal-anthems  rife, 
To  charge  with  notes  of  joy  thy  plaintive  tongue, 

And  sing  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life. 

7- 

For  sweetly  sleeps  the  chrisom-child  at  rest, 
And  fain  with  such  the  Christian  heart  would 

lie! 
If  so  God  wills — of  all  His  gifts  'tis  best, 

Fresh  from  the  font,  in  Christ  new-born,  to  die. 


THE   UNBAPTIZED. 

Is  it  well  with  the  child  ?    2  KINGS,  iv.  26. 
I. 

A  LADY  wept,  with  tears  undried — 

For  her  bright  boy  who  came 
Only  to  close  his  eyes,  and  died 
Unchristen'd,  with  no  name — 
Lest  he  should  wear  no  coronal  divine 
Among  those  innocents  like  stars  of  morn  that 
shine. 

2. 

Is  then  the  guiltless  babe  shut  out 

From  that  palm-bearing  band  ? 
Resolve,  O  man  of  God,  my  doubt ! 

Fain  would  I  understand, 
Where  is  my  darling's  soul,  or  where  his  lot  ? 
Hath  He  no  place  for  such,  who  said,  "  Forbid 
them  not  "  ? 

3- 

O  mother,  faithless  are  thy  fears, 

Tho'  sore  thy  faith  be  tried  ; 
Triumphant  hope  may  smile  thro'  tears 

And  trust  in  Him  who  died  ; 
From  thine  embrace  of  love  a  lamb  is  torn, 
But  on  thy  Shepherd's   breast  doubt   not   that 
lamb  is  borne. 


I?6  THE   UNBAPTIZED. 

4- 
Thy  child  is  His  far  more  than  thine  ; 

He  claims  it  for  His  fold  ; 
And  grace — unfetter'd  by  its  sign — 

Is  giv'n  to  young  and  old. 
Tis  no  presumptuous  thought,  of  human  wit, 
But  lo  !  such  light  shines  clear  in  lines  of  Holy 
Writ. 

5- 
As  on  its  stem,  all  undefiled, 

The  lily's  bud  is  seen, 
Hath  He  not  said  the  Christian's  child 

Is  holy,  not  unclean  ? 

For,  hallow'd  by  the  mother's  faith  and  prayer, 
With  her  the  babe  unborn  is  fed  on  angels'  fare. 

6. 
If  holy  be  the  planted  root, 

Planted  in  God's  own  ground, 
Holy  the  flower  and  blest  the  fruit 

Upon  its  branches  found. 
Nor  one  poor  blighted  bud  shall  fall  to  earth 
Too  soon  for  Him  to  save  who  gives  the  second 
birth. 

7- 
Nor  deem  from  Paynim  fields  afar 

He  gleans  no  holy  seed  : 
Nations  that  ne'er  beheld  His  star, 

His  rod  and  staff  may  lead. 
Where  Hagar  faints — how  near  the  angel  wing 
That  for  her  dying  boy  reveals  the  hidden  spring. 


THE   UXBAPTIZED.  177 

8. 

Unnuinber'd  are  the  babes  on  whom 

No  christ'ning  dews  were  shed, 
Who  yet  were  His,  within  the  womb, 

And  with  His  flock   are  fed, 
Who  guides  His  sheep  the  living  streams  among, 
And  gently  leadeth   those  who  yet  enfold  their 
young. 

9- 
Such  be  thy  trust,  such  hope  be  thine — 

All  else  is  mystery. 
The  nameless  babe  let  faith  resign 

To  Mercy's  mild  decree, 
Full  sure  not  woman's  love  itself  can  teach 
Aught  of  true  love  to  Him  whose  love  surpasseth 
speech. 

10. 
Where  God  is  silent — more  to  seek 

Or  prompt  the  Holy  One, 
Is  faithless  thought.     This  only  speak  : 

Father,  Thy  will  be  done. 
To  save  all  souls  that  sin,  the  Saviour  died  : 
For  souls  that  never  sinned,  trust  then  the  Cruci- 
fied. 


EUTHANASIA. 

SHE  answered,  It  is  well.— 2  KINGS,  iv.  26. 
I. 

THEE,  'mid  the  flowers  of  paradise,  as  fair  and 

qndefilecl  ; 
Thee,  happy  daughter  of  thy  God — how  dare  I 

call  thee  child  ? 
Yet   let    me    name    thee    with    the    blest,    and, 

though  thy  date  was  brief, 
Think  only  of  thy  new  estate,  with  joy  and  not 

with  grief. 

2. 

So  soon  to  leave   far  far  below  our  vale  of  tears 

and  pain  ; 
Through   earth  so  soon    and    bright   to  pass,  a 

sunbeam  without  stain  ; 
To  come,  and  in  thy  Saviour's  arms  baptismal 

life  to  win — 
Then    take  thy  flight,  a  sinless  one,  from  such 

a  world  of  sin  : 

3- 
Sure  this  is  blessedness  !     How  blest  a  ransom'd 

one  to  be, 

So  short  thy  little  moment  here,  so  long  eternity  ! 
'Tis  thine,  on  wings  unstained  as  theirs,  to  soar 

with  cherubim, 
Yet,  with  a  love  no  angel  knows,  Redemption's 

song  to  hymn  ! 


EUTHANASIA.  179 

4- 

Thou  bine-eyed  darling  of  my  soul — from  such  a 

life  divine, 
Sweet  Dora,  could  I  call  thee  down  to  share  a 

life  like  mine  ? 
Or  could  we  pray  for  thy  return  to  selfish  eyes 

and  arms, 
Thine  the  hard  lot  of  earth   to  bear — and  ours 

thy  captive  charms  ? 

5- 

Nay,  let  me  rather  share    with  thee  thy  life  of 

joy  and  love  ! 
Part  of  my  flesh  is  in   thy  grave — part  of  my 

soul  above  ; 
And  oft  in  dreams  I  seem  to  rest,  since  thou  art 

gone  before, 
Where  the  Good  Shepherd  folds  the  lambs  that 

once  in  arms  He  bore. 

6. 

Yet  can  it  be,  for  oft  such  thoughts  of  bitterness 

upspring, 
That  such  as   I,  with  such   as  thou,  the  Lamb's 

new  song  may  sing  ? 
That  I  with  thee,  in  Paradise,  may  walk  in  robes 

that  shine, 
And  share  th'  eternal  marriage-feast  with  virgin 

souls  like  thine  ? 


l8o  EUTHANASIA. 

7- 

So  turns  my  spirit,  Lord,  to  Thee,  as  with  his 
aching  sight, 

Who  from  thy  crimsoned  cross  received  a  wel- 
come into  light  ; 

And  for  a  childlike  heart,  once  more,  my  inmost 
nature  cries, 

To  Thee — alone  who  wipest  tears  forever  from 
our  eyes. 


Oh  !    let    not    hopes    that    heavenward    soar    be 

thrust  aclown  to  hell  ; 
These    hopes    of    immortality,    this    thirst    with 

Thee  to  dwell  ; 
But,  out  of  longings    after    life,   let    Thy  sweet 

Spirit  give 
Strength  to  assert  our  destiny  and  by  Thy  life  to 

live! 


9- 
Ev'n    as   young    wings    are    stretch'd  for    flight 

while  plumeless  in  the  nest  ; 
As   dreaming    babes    with    rosy    lips    invite  the 

balmy  breast  ; 
As  flowers  uplift  the  fragrant  cup  ere  evening's 

dews  are  given, 
So   faith,  with    all  its  pure    desires,  foretells  its 

home  in  heaven. 


EUTHANASIA.  iSl 


Dear  Lamb  of  God,  though  far  below  the  dear 

one  of  my  heart, 
Be  mine  at  least  the  sight  of  those  who  see  Thee 

as  Thou  art, 
And  grant  me  but  the  meanest  place  among  the 

glorified  ; 
For  whom  have  I  in   heaven  but  Thee,  or  what 

on  earth  beside  ? 


A  THOUGHT  FROM  THE  FATHERS. 

MY  burden  is  light.— S.  MATT.  xi.  30. 


SEE  how  yon  little  lark  is  borne 
With  music  up  to  heaven, 

To  bask  in  sunlight  ere  the  morn 
To  vales  beneath  is  given. 


That  bird  salvation's  sign  hath  made 
By  stretching  forth  his  wings  ; 

The  cross  upon  his  back  is  laid, 
And  lo  !  he  soars  and  sings. 

3- 

Take  off  the  fardel  that  he  bears, 

He  falleth  in  his  flight  ; 
The  cross  is  in  the  wings  he  wears  ; 

He  proves  the  burden  light. 

4- 

So  Christ  hath  laid  His  cross  on  me  ; 

It  wings  me  to  the  sky, 
And  day  by  day,  though  sore  it  be, 

By  that  dear  cross  live  I. 


A   THOUGHT   FKOM   THE    FATHERS.  183 

5- 
It  beareth  those  by  whom  'tis  borne  ; 

And  by  its  weight  we  rise. 
Who  casts  it  down,  he  sinks  forlorn  ; 

Who  takes  it  up,  he  flies. 

6. 
Easy  the  yoke,  and  light  the  load, 

Indeed,  my  spirit  sings  ; 
To  him  that  pants  for  God's  abode, 

His  cross  shall  prove  his  wings. 


AMARANTH. 

WE  have  forsaken  all ....  what  shall  we  have  therefore  ? 
-S.  MATT.  xix.  27. 


BE  still,  my  fluttering  heart,  nor  dim 

The  flame  of  faith  divine  ; 
But  say — All  things  are  mine  in  Him 

If  only  Christ  be  mine. 


Not  here  are  amaranthine  bowers  ; 

But,  loving  and  forgiven, 
Thine  yet  shall  be,  for  earthly  flowers, 

Their  antitypes  in  heaven. 

3- 

Not  all  to  mock  our  waking  sight 
Fair  forms  in  sleep  we  view  ; 

But  oft  our  visions  of  the  night 
Are  figures  of  the  true. 

4- 

Then  look  beyond,  with  sweet  content, 

When,  o'er  the  April  sky, 
Is  seen  that  arch  of  glory  bent 

Which  glitters  but  to  die. 


AMARANTH.  185 

5- 

Not  all  unseen,  not  all  unknown, 

Are  things  within  the  veil  ; 
There  is  a  rainbow  round  the  throne, 

Whose  hues  nor  fade  nor  fail. 

6. 
There's  not  a  bliss  we  sigh  for  here 

That  is  not  kept  above, 
Pure  as  the  heavenly  atmosphere, 

For  hearts  that  Jesus  love. 

7- 
TJiere's  not  a  toy  that  is  cast  down 

By  souls  the  cross  that  bear, 
That  helps  not  to  the  glittering  crown 

Reserved  in  glory  there. 


And  if  the  restless  heart  we  tame 

Its  idols  to  forego, 
Treasures  of  love,  in  Christ's  clear  name, 

The  Father  will  bestow. 

9- 
For,  sure  as  in  the  soul  are  powers 

Which  here  we  must  restrain, 
There's  something  that  shall  yet  be  ours 

To  prove  them  not  in  vain. 


THE    ASCENSION. 

OH  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove !  for  then  would  I  fly 
away,  and  be  at  rest.— Ps.  Iv.  6. 

I. 
LIKE  shapes  the  mirror's  depth  within, 

That,  in  their  fashions,  come  and  go, 
A  world  that  is  not,  nor  hath  been, 

Of  phantoms  passing  to  and  fro  ; 

» 

2. 

Ev'n  thus  unreal  and  as  vain, 

The  scene  that  mocks  the  human  eye, 

Where  pomp,  with  flattery  in  its  train, 
Struts  forth,  or  flaunts  disdainful  by. 

3- 
I  saw  an  empire's  rise  and  fall  ; 

Its  monstrous  birth,  its  hasty  end  ; 
One  rose  and  reigned  and  ruined  all, 

Himself  and  all  that  call'd  him  friend. 

4- 
Not  such  His  realm  who  bore  the  reed 

Of  mock'ry  in  His  mighty  hand  ; 
Who  stooped  to  suffer  and  to  bleed, 

But  rose  to  reign  o'er  every  land  ; 


THE   ASCENSION.  187 

5- 

Who  bowed  to  taste  the  wayside  rill, 

That  mock'd  His  thirst ;  then  raised  His  head 

With  living  streams  the  world  to  fill, 
And  light  and  life  o'er  all  to  shed  ; 


Who  rose  the  gates  of  bliss  to  ope, 
And  bids  us  rise  His  throne  to  share 

Like  Him  to  die  and  rest  in  hope, 
Like  Him  to  reign  in  glory  there. 

7- 
Oh  for  the  wings,  consoling  Dove, 

Thou  lendest  to  the  spirit  pure, 
To  flee  away  and  soar  above, 

To  worlds  of  glory  that  endure  ! 


THE  UNSPEAKABLE  GIFT. 

SHALL  He  not,  also,  with  Him,  freely  give  us  all  things? 
-Rom.  viii.  32. 


OH  Thou  whose  blood  my  soul  to  heal 

As  Gilead's  balm,  at  times  I  feel, 

Saviour  divine,  I  find  Thee  more 

Than  I  had  thought,  or  dreamed,  before  ; 

Content,  if  but  such  bliss  may  be, 

To  breathe,  and  move,  and  live  in  Thee. 

2. 

My  soul  is  dark,  be  Thou  my  day, 
My  light  within  and  on  my  way  ; 
Athirst  and  faint,  I  find  Thee  still 
Like  Silo's  fount,  or  Kedron's  rill ; 
Or  if  by  hunger's  pang  subdued, 
Bread  of  the  soul,  Thou  art  my  food. 

3- 

When  howls  the  storm,  my  safe  retreat  ; 
My  shelter  from  the  burning  heat, 
My  anchor  when  the  billows  rise, 
My  soaring  wing  to  brighter  skies  ; 
All  this  and  more,  Thee,  Lord,  I  call, 
My  Light,  my  Life,  my  all  in  all. 


THE   UNSPEAKABLE   GIFT.  189 

4- 

And  oft,  dear  Lord,  in  sorest  need, 
On  barren  husks  enforced  to  feed, 
Be  mine  the  pardon'd  wand'rer's  lot, 
And  his,  beside,  who  wandered  not  : 
A  home  in  Thine  embrace  divine, 
Ever  with  Thee  and  all  things  mine. 


THE   TWO    PENTECOSTS. 

I  WILL  make  all  my  goodness  pass  before  thee.— EXOD. 
xxxiii.  19. 

I. 

O  SlNAI  !  dark  and  thunder-scarr'd, 
How  oft,  as  in  a  dismal  dream, 

Thy  clouded  heights  so  hard, 
Before  my  sight  uplifted  seem, 
With  cavern 'd  sides  and  clefts  extreme  ; 

Gigantic  quarry  of  the  Law, 
Womb  of  those  stony  slabs  austere 

Whereon  I  read  with  awe 

Letters  of  fire  and  flame  that  fill  my  soul  with 
fear. 

2. 

Yet  even  here,  on  Law's  dread  throne, 
Whence  came  the  thunder  and  the  ban, 

Ev'n  here  was  mercy  shewn  ; 
Mercy  and  love  to  sinful  man, 
When  Moses  long'd  God's  bliss  to  scan 

For  comfort  not  revealed  to  sense, 
And  cried  :  Thy  glory  let  me  trace. 

Oh  !  for  that  joy  intense  ; 
Shew  me,  O  Lord,  I  pray,  the  glory  of  Thy  face. 

3- 

Comes  the  blest  answer,  o'er  and  o'er, 
In  echoes  from  that  awful  Rock  ; 


THE   TWO    PENTECOSTS.  19! 

Hear  it,  and  evermore 
Rejoice,  poor  erring,  cowering  flock, 
Stunn'd  by  the  trumpet  and  the  shock — 

Hear  Mercy's  promise,  even  there, 
Soft  as  He  spake  on  Calvary's  tree 

Of  Paradise  so  fair  : 
Goodness  my  glory  is — that  will  I  shew  to  Thee. 

4- 

He  changeth  not.     Long  years  had  pass'd, 
And  lo  !  Elijah  thither  came  ; 

Came  to  those  caverns  vast, 
'Mid  earthquake,  winds,  and  lightning's  flame, 
To  know — if  God  were  still  the  same, 

Tho'  Israel's  foul  idolatries 
Cried  from  the  ground,  invoking  ire  ; 

Soft  as  the  summer's  breeze 
The  still  small  voice  was  His  :  God  spake  not  in 
the  fire. 

5- 

So  on  that  mount  of  Pentecost, 
Whence  came  the  fiery  Law  of  Death, 

O  God,  the  Holy  Ghost, 
Came  words  of  Life,  came  Thy  soft  breath, 
As  when  a  mother  comforteth 

The  child  her  loving  arms  enfold. 
That  still  small  voice  was  Power  and  Might ; 

Backward  the  thunders  rolled, 
And  came  the  cloven  tongues  of  Love  and  Life 
and  Light. 


WHITSUNDAY. 

THERE  were   seven   lamps  of   fire    burning  before    the 
throne,  which  are  the  seven  Spirits  of  God.—  REV.  iv.  5. 


BREATH  of  the  Lord,  O  Spirit  blest, 
Inspiring  Guide,  consoling  Guest, 
Thy  perfect  gifts  and  lights  to  lend, 
On  mortal  heads  and  hearts  descend ; 
Come  to  the  sluggish  sense  and  mind 
As  comes  the  rushing,  mighty  wind. 


Come,  Promise  of  the  Holy  One  ; 
Come,  Paraclete  of  God  the  Son  ; 
Come  like  the  Spring's  reviving  gale 
To  furrowed  soil  or  flagging  sail  ; 
Or  come  as  first  Thy  presence  came, 
With  fiery  tongues  of  cloven  flame. 

3- 

Spirit  of  power,  come  down  ;  draw  near, 
Spirit  of  truth  and  holy  fear  ; 
Succour  poor  souls  that  strive  with  sin, 
The  foes  without,  the  foe  within  : 
And,  like  the  morning's  sun,  dispel 
The  shades  of  death,  the  powers  of  hell. 


WHITSUNDAY.  1 

4- 

Spirit  of  Christ  our  Paschal  Lamb, 

On  mortal  wounds  come  pour  Thy  balm  ; 

To  fainting  flesh  the  oil  supply 

That  heals  the  soul,  that  opes  the  eye  ; 

The  sinner's  broken  heart  restore, 

Forgiven  much  that  loves  the  more. 

5- 

Dove  of  the  Lord,  with  brooding  wings 
Creative  o'er  createcl  things, 
Come  build  anew  thy  peaceful  nest 
Where  sorrows  vex  the  human  breast ; 
There  'mid  its  thorns  thy  note  be  heard — 
The  turtle's  voice,  the  Spirit's  Word. 

6. 

Fire  of  the  Lord  and  Light  Divine, 
Thou  glory  of  th'  Eternal  Trine, 
Come  and  this  gloomy  world  inflame, 
With  Jesus'  love,  Jehovah's  name, 
And,  from  those  lamps  before  the  throne, 
Send  sevenfold  radiance  all  thine  own. 

7- 

River  of  Life,  make  all  things  new  ; 
Come,  flow  the  thirsty  fallows  through  ; 
From  sweet  Siloam's  fount,  above, 
Shed  showers  of  grace,  shed  dews  of  love 
Come,  spread  thy  living  streams  abroad  ; 
Make  glad  the  city  of  our  God. 
13 


HOMEWARD. 

TOILING  in  rowing,  for  the  wind  was  contrary. — S.  MARK, 
vi.  48. 


BREATH  of  the  Lord,  come,  Holy  Ghost  ! 
Come  speed  me  to  the  heavenly  coast, 

Me,  weary  at  the  helm  ; 
Helpless  alike  in  storm  or  calm 
To  reach  the  soul's  sure  port  I  am, 

And  fears  like  seas  o'erwhelm. 


To  breast  the  tide  and  shun  the  shore, 
Vainly  I  toil  with  faithless  oar, 

And  drifts  my  bark  so  frail. 
Breath  of  the  Lord,  O  Spirit,  come  ! 
Come  waft  me  to  my  heavenly  home, 

And  swell  my  drooping  sail  ! 


THE  GIVER  OF  LIFE. 

THE  Spirit  of  Life  in  Christ  Jesus. — ROM.  viii.  2. 
I. 

COME,  Breath  of  God  ;  come,  breath  of  lives 
Whose  kiss  the  life  of  man  revives  ; 
Come  and  my  sinful  flesh  restore 
Like  his  who  bathed  seven  times  of  yore. 

2. 

Come,  Balm  of  God  ;  come,  Gilead's  balm  ; 
Come  seek  me,  outcast  that  I  am  ; 
Come  pour  Thyself  into  my  mind, 
Its  wounds  to  heal,  its  rents  to  bind. 


Come,  Dew  of  Heaven  ;   O  Spirit,  come, 
To  call  my  wandering  spirit  home  ; 
My  senses  touch,  inspire,  refine, 
Restore  the  likeness  lost,  to  Thine. 

4- 

My  body,  mind  and  spirit,  Lord, 
To  these  Thy  life  and  love  afford  ; 
Giver  of  Life  alone  art  Thou, 
Spirit  of  God,  to  whom  we  bow. 


THE    TRINITY. 

HYMN  OF  THE  EARLY  CHRISTIANS  AT  CANDLE- 
LIGHT. 

AT  eventide  it  shall  be  light. — ZECHARIAH,  xiv.  7. 


MESSIAH,  Thou  brightness  benign, 
Of  the  Holy  One,  image  express  ; 
O  Jesu,  Thou  glory  divine, 

Of  the  Father  of  Lights,  whom  we  bless, 
While  sunlight  grows  dim, 
Our  eventide  hymn 

Shall  be  thine. 

2. 

Now  twinkles  the  starlight  in  heaven, 

The  day  clieth  out  in  the  west, 
While  kindle  our  lamps  for  the  even, 
Our  songs  shall  to  Thee  be  address'd. 
Father,  Spirit,  and  Son, 
Thy  name  trine  and  one 

Shall  be  blest. 

3- 

Son  of  God,  ever-blest  life  bestower, 
Our  well-spring  and  day-spring  most  bright, 


THE   TRINITY.  197 

Holy  voices  of  saints  Thee  adore, 

And  the  world,  both  by  day  and  by  night  : 
All  times  are  Thine  own  : 
Thou  art  worthy  alone, 

-  Light  of  light. 


NOTES. 


I. 


THE  EASTER  FESTIVAL  has,  of  late  years,  com- 
mended itself  to  the  Christians  of  America  and  even 
to  the  people  more  generally.  It  is  more  and  more 
religiously  observed,  and  it  is  popularly  recognized  in 
all  parts  of  our  country.  This  indicates  a  great  relig- 
ious revolution  ;  for,  in  the  boyhood  of  the  writer,  it 
seemed  to  be  almost  unknown  in  New  England,  where 
he  passed  some  of  his  school-days  ;  while  in  New 
York,  where  his  childhood  and  youth  were  chiefly 
spent,  it  was  devoutly  observed  only  by  Church- 
folk,  and  the  remnant  of  the  old  settlers  from  Hol- 
land. The  fact  that  it  was  also  kept,  in  their  way, 
by  members  of  a  foreign  communion  perpetuated  a 
narrow  prejudice  against  it.  So  that  the  inspiration 
of  a  popular  feeling  favourable  to  the  nationalizing  of 
the  Easter  Feast,  if  not  of  the  solemnities  preceding 
it,  has  been  the  work  of  "  the  little  leaven  "  imparted 
to  American  Christianity  by  the  Anglo-American 
Church. 

Very  early  in  life  it  occurred  to  the  author  that 
he  might  do  something  to  teach  his  countrymen  the 
great  importance,  to  a  great  people,  of  Christian  obser- 
vances, harmonized  with  historic  Christianity.  In  a 


200  NOTES. 

country  where  all  is  raw  and  recent,  the  only  hold 
upon  the  past  which  is  essential  to  a  normal  develop- 
ment of  its  future,  must  be  supplied  by  the  grand 
system  of  the  "Christian  Year."  Of  this  system 
history  is  full.  The  Literature  and  Laws  of  Christian 
Nations  are  entwined  with  it  ;  nay,  it  is  interwoven 
with  Christian  civilization  in  all  its  forms.  Hence, 
to  have  no  associations  with  it  is  to  be  provincialized 
and  cut  off  from  those  sympathies  with  the  remote 
and  the  ancient  which  Dr.  Johnson  so  justly  recog- 
nized as  exalting  a  people  in  the  scale  of  intelligent 
being. 

Such  convictions  prompted  the  Christian  Ballads. 
They  were  written  in  boyhood,  and  were  not  designed 
to  open  "  the  Inner  Temple  "  of  our  Holy  Religion. 
They  celebrated  the  external  beauties  and  perfections 
of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  in  its  primitive  simplicity 
and  purity. 

But  it  was  not  altogether  unfairly  said  of  the  Bal- 
lad1;, that  they  were  lacking  in  the  spirit  of  practical 
piety.  So  it  might  be  said  of  the  tree,  or  the  flower, 
that  these  are  not  the  fruit.  The  Ballads  were  only 
designed  to  set  forth  "the  Beautiful  Gate"  of  the 
Temple,  as  an  introduction  to  the  holy  places.  They 
embellished  the  doorway,  and  invited  the  multitude 
within,  and  that  was  all. 

This  book  is  the  supplement  to  that.  It  is  de- 
signed to  offer  those  who  enter  something  more  sub- 
stantial, if  indeed  they  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness.  In  the  former  work.  Wisdom  cried  in 
the  streets  and  proclaimed  that  she  had  builded  her 
house;  in  this  she  speaks  to  her  guests,  within  her 
doors:  "  Eat  of  my  Bread,  and  drink  of  the  Wine 


NOTES.  201 

which  I  have  mingled."  Such,  at  least,  is  the  plan 
and  purpose  of  the  two  books,  as  compared  and 
contrasted. 

In  a  great  measure,  the  Christian  Ballads  have 
served  their  purpose.  The  architecture,  the  manners 
and  customs,  the  idealized  completeness  of  the  Prayer- 
book  system  which  they  portrayed,  were  things  un- 
known in  America,  except  in  books  and  pictures,  and 
in  the  exceptional  case  of  pious  Churchmen  who  had 
travelled  in  Europe.  The  book  appealed  to  the  im- 
agination and  was  warmly  received,  and  for  fifty  years 
has  continued  to  be  published,  here  and  also  in  En- 
gland, where,  I  am  assured,  it  led  to  many  transforma- 
tions which  have  been  wrought  during  the  past  genera- 
tion. But  what  it  essayed  to  picture  to  the  imagination 
is  now  part  of  common  routine  and  daily  observation. 
Besides,  it  has  been  imitated,  and  has  lost  freshness. 
Much  that  it  commends  has  been  spoiled  by  overdoing 
and  by  petty  details  in  which  good  taste  perishes.  Our 
national  disposition  to  exaggerate  and  work  a  good 
idea  to  death,  always  reacts,  till  appetite  is  palled  by 
satiety.  It  was  comforting,  however,  to  be  told  by 
a  learned  dignitary  in  England  that  churches  now 
stand  open  everywhere,  for  private  prayers,  all  the 
day  and  every  day  in  the  week,  and  that  nothing  has 
contributed  to  this  result  more  effectually  than  the 
Ballads.  So  also  said  Mr.  Parker,  the  eminent 
publisher. 

May  "the  Paschal "  be  blest  with  a  holier  and 
more  essential  result,  in  making  all  who  read  it  in 
love  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  especially  with  the 
Church-lessons,  as  arranged  for  "  the  Christian  Year." 
The  history  of  its  production  is  given  in  the  proem, 


202  NOTES. 

which  is  a  tribute  to  two  of  my  kinswomen,  the  pre- 
cious companions  of  my  early  youth.  They  were  alike 
beautiful  in  person  and  adorned  with  exceptional 
graces  of  mind  and  of  Christian  character.  One  fell 
asleep  at  Pau,  where  she  rests  under  the  shade  of 
the  Pyrenees,  and  the  other,  who  soon  followed  her, 
reposes  in  a  fair  churchyard  on  the  banks  of  the 
Schuylkill,  near  Philadelphia,  where  her  not  less 
lovely  and  highly  cultivated  mother  is  laid.  Her 
father,  my  beloved  uncle,  who  died  in  the  military 
service  of  his  country,  in  our  late  unhappy  war,  lies  in 
his  honoured  grave  near  Chattanooga,  in  Tennessee. 

II. 

®l)c  flasclwl  tTeui-Jttoon. 


Page  6.  —  When  the  Paschal  new-moon  shines,  then 
the  devout  Christian  feels  what  is  meant  by  the  say- 
ing of  Moses,  that  God  set  the  sun  and  moon  "for 
signs  and  for  seasons."  There  are  evidences  in  Scrip- 
ture of  something  very  much  like  the  Paschal  system 
existing  from  the  beginning  of  human  history,  to 
display  "the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world."  Thus  the  first  worship  of  which  we  have 
any  record  is  that  of  Abel,  who  brought  a  lamb  fot 
sacrifice  ;  and  by  the  marginal  reading  we  see  that  it 
was  offered  at  an  appointed  time,  apparently  "at 
the  end  of  the  days."  But  what  days?  The  end  of 
the  week  ?  Or  days  of  an  appointed  "season"?  If 
the  latter,  ending  in  a  day  of  worship  and  of  offering 
a  typical  sacrifice  of  the  lamb,  the  idea  is  complete. 
This  solemnity  was  revived  under  Moses,  in  the 


NOTES.  203 

institution  of  the  Paschal,  by  the  ' '  ordinances  of  the 
moon."  By  the  Paschal  full-moon,  therefore,  was 
marked  the  time  of  the  perfect  sacrifice  which  the  Son 
of  God  made  upon  the  cross  ;  and  ever  since  it  has 
marked  the  Christian  Paschal,  or  the  Holy  Week 
and  Easter. 

The  Council  of  Nice,  A.D.  325,  gave  us  the  rules 
for  calculating  Easter,  which  are  still  observed,  and 
which  are  found  in  our  Prayer-books.  The  whole  sys- 
tem of  the  Moveable  Feasts  in  each  year  is  regulated 
by  these  canons,  and  the  Paschal  full-moon  is  the 
pivot  on  which  all  turns.  Modern  astronomy  owes 
its  existence  largely  to  the  impulse  given  to  the 
study  of  this  science  by  the  Nicene  Council,  especially 
at  Alexandria,  whose  bishop  was  charged  with  the 
duty  of  making  the  annual  calculations  and  sending 
through  all  the  world  the  date  of  the  next  Easter. 
This  he  did  in  the  Epiphany  Season. 

Page  7. —  The  Church  hath  calendar' d  thy  time. 
There  has  always  been  a  great  charm  for  me  in  this 
fact,  the  response  of  the  Church  to  the  "  ordinances 
of  the  moon,"  by  giving  them  a  moral  and  sacred 
significance  through  all  time.  The  Moveable  Feasts 
introduce  a  beautiful  variety  into  our  years  of  life  ; 
and  I  have  noted  the  pleasure  children  experience 
with  a  new  almanac,  to  find  out  when  Easter  falls  in 
the  new  year,  and  so,  also,  when  the  Whitsun-feasts 
will  be  due. 

Page  7. —  The  bow  of  Joseph.  The  dying  Jacob, 
in  his  incomparable  ode,  treats  of  Joseph  as  a  type  of 
Christ,  and  "  his  bow  "  is  connected  with  the  mention 
of  "  the  Shepherd,  the  Stone  of  Israel." — Genesis, xlix. 
24.  And  it  is  noteworthy  that  where  Joseph's  name 


204  NOTES. 

appears  in  the  corresponding  ode  of  Moses,  "  the 
precious  things  put  forth  by  the  moon  "  are  marked 
in  Joseph's  blessing.  Were  not  these  the  "  precious 
promises  "  of  the  Paschal  ?  —  Deut.  xxxiii.  14. 


III. 


Page  9.  —  In  this  poem  I  have  done  little  else  than 
paraphrase  an  incomparable  figure  of  Archbishop 
Leighton.  "In  the  whole  course  of  my  studies," 
says  Coleridge,  "  I  do  not  remember  to  have  read  so 
beautiful  an  allegory  ;  so  various  and  detailed,  and 
yet  so  just  and  natural."  Leighton's  Works,  Vol.  III. 
p.  99.  Ed.  1870. 

Page  9.  —  Sweet  Spring.  See  Genesis,  ii.  10.  "A 
river  went  out  from  Eden  to  water  the  garden,  and 
from  thence  it  was  parted  and  became  into  four  heads.'' 
See  also  how  the  Eternal  Eden  supplies  that  of  which 
this  was  only  the  figure  :  the  "  river  of  water  of  life, 
clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God 
and  of  the  Lamb."  —  Rev.  xxii.  I.  So  the  Psalmist  : 
"There  is  a  river  the  streams  whereof  shall  make 
glad  the  city  of  God."  —  Ps.  xlvi.  4 

Page  9.  —  Four  mighty  streams.  "  The  early 
Church,"  says  West  of  Nairn,  in  his  precious  edition 
of  Leighton,  "  understood  this  river  to  mean  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  sent  into  the  four  corners  of  the 
world  and  contained  in  the  writings  of  the  four 
Evangelists."  So  St.  Jerome  very  beautifully  ex- 
pounds it:  and  the  four  sections  of  the  cross  are 
often  identified  with  this  same  geographical  idea. 


NOTES.  205 

Page  10. —  The  Serpe;ifs  head.  This  text  (Gen. 
iii.  15)  is  the  well-head  of  Scripture,  of  prophecy, 
and  narrative  ;  it  is  the  original  Gospel. 

Page  10.  —  That  sea  above.  The  sea  of  glass  (Rev. 
iv.  6)  is  spoken  of,  and  yet  there  shall  be  "  no  more 
sea." — Rev.  xxi.  I.  The  bitter  and  boisterous  sea 
we  know  here  shall  be  no  more,  but  peace  and  tran- 
quillity shall  be  there  unbounded  and  vast  and  clear  as 
glass,  and  so  far  like  a  sea. 

Page  10. — flooding  the  world.  Compare  Ecclesi- 
asticus  (xxiv.  30).  "  I,  Wisdom,  also  came  out  as  a 
brook  from  a  river,  and  as  a  conduit  into  a  garden. 
I  said,  I  will  water  my  best  garden,  and  will  water 
abundantly  my  garden-bed  ;  and  lo  '  my  brook  be- 
came a  river  and  my  river  became  a  sea.  ' 

IV. 

Abtl. 

Page  n. — Behold  the  first  altar  and  the  first  sacri- 
fice of  which  we  have  any  record  :  Abel  brought,  of 
the  firstlings  of  his  flock,  a  lamb  for  the  oblation.  And 
this  he  did  by  faith,  says  St.  Paul :  wherefore  he  un- 
derstood that  God  had  promised  to  provide  the  Lamb 
at  the  sacrifice  for  sin. 

Page  12. —  The  Sacrifice  of  Cain.  Cain  despised 
the  atonement.  Such  was  the  root-sin  of  his  offering. 
He  was  the  first  Deist,  who  worshipped  with  tokens 
of  "  natural  religion,"  and  rejected  revelation  and 
the  covenant  of  God  through  "the  Seed  of  the 
woman."  So  Christ  was  rejected  by  the  Jews.  Com- 
pare St.  Matthew,  xxvii.  18,  and  I.  John,  iv.  12. 


206  NOTES. 

V. 

JHclcljijcDcft. 

Page  13. — Melchizedek  is  not  called  "  a  priest," 
but  "  the  priest  of  the  Most  High  God."  This  is  the 
first  appearance  of  the  word  priest  in  human  history. 
All  heathen  priests  were  counterfeits,  but  their  exist- 
ence corroborates  the  sacred  story.  The  Mosaic  priests 
were  shadows  of  the  One  only  true  priest,  and  types 
of  His  then  future  work.  Christian  priests  are  the 
instruments  by  whose  hands  and  lips  the  Great  High 
Priest  does  His  work  on  earth,  while  He  intercedes 
for  us  "  within  the  veil,"  in  Heaven.  The  argument 
of  St.  Paul  (Hebrews  v. — vii.)  is  based  on  Genesis, 
xiv.  18  and  Psalms,  ex.  He  shows  that  Melchizedek 
who  appeared  to  Abraham  was  no  created  being  ;  was 
"  without  father,  without  mother,  without  beginning  of 
days  or  end  of  life  "  ;  and  this  same  Melchizedek,  he 
says,  "abideth  a  priest  forever."  He  further  explains 
that  Melchizedek  was  a  mere  name  for  the  appari- 
tion or  similitude  of  "  the  King  of  Righteousness." 
So,  "  King  of  Salem  "  means  "  the  Prince  of  Peace." 
Such  is  the  interpretation  of  St.  Ambrose.  Other 
orthodox  divines  suppose  that  it  was  the  patriarch 
Shem  who  thus  appeared  to  Abraham  ;  but  they  agree 
that  if  so,  he  was  but  a  lype  or  shadow  of  the  true 
Melchizedek.  See  Ambrose,  de  Abraam,  i.  cap.  4. 

Page  9. — Abraham  saw  Christ's  day.  The  Father 
of  the  Faithful  saw  him  as  Melchizedek,  which  the 
apostle  tells  us  is  but  his  name,  in  the  similitude  of 
an  earthly  king.  To  this  event  our  Lord  Himself 
seems  to  have  referred,  when  He  said  :  "  Your  father 


NOTES.  207 

Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day,  and  he  saw  it  and 
was  glad."  So  Isaac  saw  him  in  the  marvellous 
visit  of  the  three  men,  one  of  whom  was  the  Angel- 
Jehovah.  Jacob  saw  him,  as  the  same  angel  with 
whom  he  wrestled  and  of  whom  he  said,  "  I  have  seen 
God  face  to  face."  Moses  saw  him  in  the  Burning 
Bush,  and  afterwards  when  he  passed  by  on  the 
Mount. 

Joshua  beheld  him,  at  Jericho,  as  "the  Captain  of 
the  Lord's  Host,"  and  was  thus  taught  his  own 
shadowy  character ;  the  true  Joshua,  which  is  the 
name  JESUS,  in  its  Hebrew  form,  being  the  true  leader 
of  the  army  of  Israel,  the  "  Lord  of  Hosts." 

Long  afterwards  he  was  seen  with  the  Three  Chil- 
dren in  the  fiery  furnace,  "like  unto  the  Son  of 
God." 

No  marvel,  then,  that  this  same  "  Angel-Jehovah  " 
shewed  himself  to  the  Father  of  the  Faithful,  as  the 
great  High  Priest,  as  the  King  of  Kings. 

So  beautiful  the  plan  of  God,  in  giving  thus  early 
to  Faith  a  manifestation  of  the  Messiah,  God  and 
Man. 

Page  12. — Forth  comes  the  bread  and  wine.  This 
Eternal  Priest  "  brings  forth  bread  and  wine  "  :  and 
is  adored  by  Abraham,  who  pays  him  tithes,  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  his  Everlasting  Priesthood. 

This  enables  St.  Paul  to  prove  that  the  Levitical 
priesthood  was  a  mere  type  and  shadow  of  a  Priest- 
hood that  was  before  it,  and  should  endure  forever, 
while  that  of  Levi's  sons  should  pass  away. 


208  NOTES. 

VI. 
QL\)C  ©rent  $\$t>  fricat. 

Page  15. —  Unsired,  unborn.  St.  Paul  expressly 
asserts  that  Melchizedek,  "without  father,  without 
mother,  without  descent,  having  neither  beginning  of 
days  nor  end  of  life,  .  .  .  abidelh  a  priest  contin- 
ttally."  He  declares  this  of  the  same  Melchizedek 
who  met  Abraham;  and  he  tells  us  that  the  similitude 
"  King  of  Salem,"  means  only  that  He  is  "  the 
Prince  of  Peace,"  as  the  name  Melchizedek  means 
only  that  He  is  the  King  of  Righteousness.  The 
parenthesis,  "made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God,"  no 
more  affects  the  sense  than  when  it  is  said  in  Daniel, 
"  One  like  the  Son  of  Man  came  with  clouds." 

Page  16. — God's  fellow.  "  The  man  that  is  My 
fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts  "  (Zech.  xiii.  7). 

Page  16. — Ancient  of  Days.  In  Daniel's  vision  we 
behold  the  Royal  Priest  more  expressly  portrayed,  of 
whom  Zechariah  says,  "  He  shall  be  a  Priest  upon 
His  throne." 

Page  16. — Of  Ages  the  Great  Rock  (Isaiah,  xxiv.  4). 
We  should  read  the  margin  of  our  bibles  and  the 
texts  there  cited  for  comparison.  This  true  and  close 
rendering  of  the  Hebrew  is  only  in  the  margin  of  our 
English  version. 

VII. 
JHural). 

Page  17. — The  name  of  Mary  is  found  in  the  Old 
Testament  in  Marah,  and  in  Miriam.  The  poem 


NOTES. 


209 


designs  to  show  how  highly  symbolical  are  these 
names,  and  how  truly  prophetic.  For  Marah,  see' 
Exodus,  xv.  23. 

Page  17. —  The  Branch  (Jeremiah,  xxiii.  5  ;  also, 
Zech.  iii.  8,  and  vi.  I2\  The  Branch  is  a  name  of 
Christ,  ancj  occurs  in  many  places  of  Holy  Scripture. 
Notably,  as  we  learn  in  the  margin  of  our  bibles,  "  the 
Dayspring  "  of  St.  Luke,  i.  78,  may  be  rendered  the 
Branch,  or  the  Sunrising. 

18.  Marah  and  Miriam.  These,  like  Maria  and 
Mary,  are  forms  of  the  same  name  ;  and  we  find  both 
together  in  the  story  of  the  first  Paschal  (Exodus,  xv. 
20).  So,  too,  Miriam's  leprosy  (Numbers,  xii.  10) 
expresses,  as  Marah  does,  the  bitter  taint  of  our 
natural  sinfulness,  and  the  Branch  is  again  brought 
into  view,  as  the  Healer.  The  Mosaic  System  begins 
with  this  significant  introduction  of  the  hidden  Christ: 
"I  am  the  Lord  that  healeth  Thee."  All  its  sym- 
bolism rebukes  the  false  idea  of  "  the  Immaculate 
Conception  "  of  Mary,  and  shows  that  this  destroys 
one  of  the  root-principles  of  the  Gospel.  It  seems  to 
have  originated  with  Mohammed*. 

Page  17. —  With  healing  in  his  wings.  The  Day: 
spring,  as  I  have  said,  is  also  the  Branch  ;  and  the 
healing  Branch  seems  coupled  with  "  the  Sunrising," 
in  the  prophetic  promise  of  Malachi,  iv.  2,  "Unto 
you  that  fear  my  name  shall  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness arise  with  healing  in  his  wings." 

Page  18. —  The  Magnificat,  though  very  naturally 
connected  with  Christmas,  is,  in  fact,  an  Easter-song, 
and  such  is  the  song  of  Miriam,  with  which  connects 
the  Eternal  Paschal  hymn  (Rev.  xv.  3),  called  "the 
Song  of  Moses  and  of  the  Lamb."  We  celebrate  the 


210  NOTES. 

Conception  of  our  Lord,  in  jclose  connection  with  the 
Paschal  season,  on  the  25th  of  March,  and  that  is  the 
date  of  the  Magnificat.  Christ's  suffering,  at  this 
time,  the  Fathers  say,  was  "like  the  kid  seethed  in  his 
mother's  milk."  In  this  fanciful  way  they  illus'rate 
the  cruelty  of  those  who  crucified  the  Lord,  in  the 
presence  of  His  mother,  and  at  the  time  of  His 
Annunciation. 

Page  18. — Of  Gilead's  Tree.  The  forests  of 
Gilead  abounded  in  spice- bearing  shrubs  and  bal- 
samic trees.  Jeremiah,  viii.  22,  is  therefore  beauti- 
fully suggestive  of  the  tree  of  Marah,  and  its  medi- 
cinal power,  as  also  of  the  Good  Physician. 

Page  18. — Reigns  from  the  Tree.  The  Cross  is 
made  Messiah's  throne,  and  I  have  made  use  of  an 
old  reading  of  Psalm  xcvi.  10,  of  which  some  of  the 
Primitive  Fathers  were  very  fond.  Pilate's  inscription 
on  the  cross  was  meant  as  derision,  but  it  was  written 
in  three  languages,  as  if  in  response  to  the  Psalmist's 
words  :  "  Tell  it  out  among  the  heathen  that  the 
Lord  is  King."  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  Jew- 
ish Scribes  altered  their  copies  of  the  Scriptures  in  no 
less  than  eighteen  places,  two,  at  least,  of  which  were 
meant  to  obliterate  prophecies  of  the  Crucifixion. 
See  Pearson  on  the  Creed,  an.  iv.,  p.  335. 

Thus  Tertullian  (against  Marcion,  iii.  19)  says  : 
"  The  Lord  reignelh  from  tJie  7^ree,  means  Christ,  who 
overcame  death  by  His  suffering  on  the  Cross,  and 
thence  reigned — as  death  reigned  before,  from  Adam 
to  Moses."  So  also  Justin  Martyr,  who  accuses  the 
Jews  of  erasing  the  words  he  quotes  from  the  Psalms  : 
"  The  Lord  hath  reigned  from  the  wood ;  but  no  one 
of  your  people  ever  reigned  thus,  save  only  He  who 


NOTES.  211 

was  crucified,  and  who  now  liveth  and  reigneth  among 
the  nations.''  I  condense  my  quotation  —  for  he  goes 
on  to  quote  the  whole  Psalm.  He  seems  to  connect 
with  this  idea  the  twelfth  verse,  "  Then  shall  all  the 
trees  of  the  wood  rejoice  before  the  Lord,"  as  if  the 
very  trees  could  rejoice  that  the  wood  of  the  Cross 
was  transfigured  into  the  Tree  of  Life.  See  Ante- 
Nicene  Fathers  (Am.  Edition,  Buffalo  and  New  York, 
1885-6),  Vol.  I.  p.  176,  n.  4,  also  p.  235  ;  and  Vol. 
III.  p.  337,  n.  3- 

VIII. 

(Emblems. 


Page  29.  —  For  Cain's  oblation,  see  Note  IV. 

Page  29  —  On  Jacob's  dying  eye.  The  reader  will 
please  turn  to  the  incomparable  dithyrambic  ode  of 
the  dying  Jacob  (Gen.  xlix.,  verses  8,  22,  24,  etc.),  for 
the  references  here  introduced. 

Page  29.  —  The  Uzzian's  hand  (see  Job,  xix.  23-27). 
No  ingenuity  has  been  able  to  rob  this  superb  passage 
of  its  Messianic  character,  as  maintained  in  our  Eng- 
lish Version.  Even  the  Revised  Version  sufficiently 
supports  this,  and  the  Septuagint  alone  is  testimony 
that  so  it  was  understood  before  Christ  came.  See  Dr. 
Pusey's  Daniel,  p.  504. 


IX. 


Page  36.  —  "Joshua"  is  a  marvellous  name  in  the 
history  of  revealed  truth.     Thus,  "  Hoshea"  becomes 


212  NOTES. 

"Jehoshua,"  by  the  prophetic  act  of  Moses  (Num. 
xiii.  16),  and  adds  to  the  idea  of  Salvaiion  that  of 
Jehovah  ;  i.e.,  "  Jehovah-Salvation."  This  becomes 
"Joshua"  in  the  person  of  the  typical  "Jesus," 
referred  to  in  Heb.  iv.  8.  Now,  the  angel  gives 
this  name  at  last  to  Him  who  was  the  end  of  types  : 
"Thou  shall  call  His  name  JOSHUA  (Jesus'),  for  He 
shall  save  His  people  from  their  sins."  The  divine 
Saviour,  "Jehoshua,"  combines  the  names  "Jeho- 
vah" and  "  Salvation." 


X. 
51  Jjlpmn 


Page  53.  —  The  intolerably  prosaic  character  of 
vulgar  minds  is  often  outrivalled  by  the  dulness  of 
strong  intellects  if  they  are  merely  mechanical  in  their 
operations.  This  hymn  celebrates  the  domain  of 
Faith  ;  not  as  hostile  to  Science,  but  as  illuminating 
Science,  and  yet  restraining  Imagination.  There  are 
those  who  cannot  smell  the  most  fragrant  flower,  and 
many  cannot  distinguish  colours  ;  so,  others  have  no 
ear  for  music.  All  nature  with  its  "incense-breath- 
ing" seasons,  and  its  profusion  of  radiant  tints  at 
morn  and  even,  is  lost  on  such  minds.  What  can  they 
see  in  the  intense  poetry  of  Scripture  ?  The  lyrics  of 
the  prophets  are  full  of  Pindaric  touches  and  allusions 
which  are  lost  on  them,  because  we  cannot  make 
them  express  anything,  mathematically.  Instead  of 
enjoying  a  rose,  they  bring  a  crucible  or  a  retort  and 
treat  it  chemically,  finding  nothing  in  it  but  so  much 
carbon.  In  spite  of  such  critics,  we  enjoy  a  garden, 
and  we  find  it  in  Scripture. 


NOTES.  213 

XI. 
Week. 


Page  61.  —  The  Church,  with  true  instinct,  reads 
this  prophecy  of  Isaiah  (Ixiii.  i)  in  Holy  Week,  and  in 
close  connection  with  Palm  Sunday.  Many  imagine 
that  it  should  he  kept  till  Easter  week,  because  it 
foretells  the  Conqueror.  The  answer  is  —  That  is  pre- 
cisely what  Palm  Sunday  foretells  ;  it  antedates  the 
victory,  and  does  not  admit  that  the  triumph  is  less 
certain  on  Palm  Sunday  than  on  Easter  Day.  The 
prophet  descries  the  dyed  garments,  before  they  were 
dyed,  and  this  he  intimates  when  he  drops  the  pro- 
phetic future  of  history  and  adopts  the  grammatical 
future,  in  the  words  —  "  their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled 
upon  my  garments,  and  /  will  stain  all  my  raiment." 
The  whole  passage  mixes  the  future  and  the  historic 
on  a  familiar  principle  of  prophecy,  which  "  calleth 
those  things  which  be  not  as  though  they  were  " 
(Rom,  xviii.  iy\  In  these  verses  this  view  is  taken 
of  the  two  prophecies  :  Zechariah  depicts  the  scene  as 
it  should  occur,  the  meek  and  lowly  "Nazarene  coming 
to  Jerusalem  on  the  ass's  foal  ;  Isaiah,  as  it  should  be 
seen  by  faith,  "  the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,"  and  in  that  view  full  of  wounds  and 
blood-stains,  while  also  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah,  and  not  less  the  Conqueror,  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world. 

Palm  Sunday,  then,  receives  its  double  character 
from  this  twofold  view.  As  the  first  day  of  Holy 
Week,  the  Sunday  of  the  Cross,  it  borrows  a  pro- 
foundly sombre  and  penitential  cast  from  the  succeed- 


214  NOTES. 

ing  days  ;  and  yet,  as  the  Hosanna  Sunday  and  the 
Day  of  Palms,  it  is  a  festival  in  which  the  Victim  and 
the  soldier  are  already  seen,  by  faith,  as  the  glorified 
Priest  and  the  Conqueror  with  dyed  garments,  whose 
triumph  was  sure,  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

XII. 


Page  63.  —  The  "  Anointed  One,"  for  such  is  the 
sense  of  the  Hebrew  Messiah  and  the  Greek  Christ,  is 
here  conceived  of  as  recognized  by  Mary  of  Bethajiy 
in  her  loving  act,  which  was  inspired  possibly  by  the 
remarkable  passage  from  the  Canticles  here  prefixed 
as  a  motto.  He  had  accepted  such  a  tribute  from  the 
"  woman  which  was  a  sinner,"  She  now  offers  a  like 
anointing  on  the  part  of  "the  virgins,"  and  to  show 
their  love. 

XIII. 
€.l>e  Bctrnpcr. 

Page  69.  —  The  ancient  church  at  Speyer  has  been 
recently  "  restored  "  with  costly  and  even  magnificent 
want  of  judgment.  It  has  become  a  modern  church 
to  all  intents,  and  is  no  unfair  symbol  of  the  Latin 
Church  as  modernized  by  the  recent  "  new  dogmas" 
which  have  been  so  fatal  to  her  catholicity.  But  the 
quaint  old  mound  in  the  south  precinct  has  been  re- 
stored in  a  manner  which,  no  doubt,  faithfully  repro- 
duces the  mediaeval  effect  of  the  original,  and  it  is 
very  striking  when  seen  in  a  moment  of  loneliness 


NOTES.  215 

and  meditation.  The  poem  is  a  truthful  statement  of 
the  impressions  it  seems  capable  of  producing  on  a. 
thoughtful  visitor. 

XIV. 
t-l)c  Council. 

Page  75.  —  Come,  then,  pedestrian  Muse.  There  are 
occasions  when  "  pedestrian  "  art,  thus  recognized  by 
Horace,  becomes  legitimate  in  poetry.  1  have  felt 
that  my  desire  to  render  that  famous  passage  in  the 
Book  of  Wisdom,  as  literally  as  the  form  of  verse  will 
permit,  furnishes  a  just  occasion  for  the  invocation 
here  introduced.  It  is  a  pity  that  any  Christian 
should  not  feel  the  force  of  such  a  scripture,  though 
Apocryphal,  as  proving  that  Isaiah  and  other  prophets 
had  sufficiently  forewarned  the  Jews  of  their  great 
peril,  in  the  day  of  Messiah's  coming.  See  Archbishop 
Leighton  on  Ps.  xxxix.  10,  and  the  Note  in  West's 
edition,  Vol.  V.  p.  62.  Compare  Plato,  Republic^  II. 
5  ;  and  Cicero,  Republic,  III.  17.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  Plato,  thinking  of  his  master,  Socrates,  had  yet 
been  influenced  by  learned  Jews  to  moralize  as  he 
does  so  prophetically.  Jones  of  Nayland  (Lect.  ix.) 
has  a  striking  passage  on  Plato's  "  Just  One  "  (Works, 
ed.  1801,  Vol.  IV.  p.  206). 

XV. 

Pontius  fH 


Page  80.  —  Some  say  he  was  a  Teuton.      The  idea 
that  Pilate  was  from  Mayence  was  current  in  an  old 


2l6  NOTES. 

legend,  and  has  been  revived  of  late  by  the  discovery 
of  the  graves  of  an  old  Hebrew  legion  on  the  Rhine; 
which  suggests  that  Jews  had  been  quartered  there, 
while  the  natives  were  sent  to  Judea,  a  well-known 
expedient  of  the  Emperors.  A  governor  who  could 
talk  to  them  in  their  own  dialect  would  have  sug- 
gested a  reason  for  such  transfer. 

In  these  stanzas  I  have  tried  to  treat  his  character 
as  the  inspired  writers,  and  as  our  Lord  Himself,  seem 
to  teach  us  to  do.  We  must  "  judge  nothing  before 
the  time  ;  "  and  it  is  lawful  to  reflect  that  mercy  to 
the  "chief  of  sinners  "  may  be  vouchsafed  through 
the  "Chief  of  all  the  Sons  of  Men,"  whose  name  is 
Jehovah-Salvation.  I  have  ventured  to  treat  his  case 
as  a  symbol  of  that  of  all  the  unevangelized  ;  of  all, 
in  short,  for  whom  the  glorious  Redeemer  prayed, 
when  He  said,  "  They  know  not  what  they  do." 

XVI. 
Calnarp. 

Page  96. — The  xxv.  of  Isaiah  is  a  marvellous  tis- 
sue embroidered  with  Messianic  symbols.  And  how 
striking  the  text  here  versified  :  "  He  shall  spread 
forth  His  hands  in  the  midst  of  them,  as  he  that 
swimmeth  spreadeth  forth  his  hands  to  swim."  The 
following  chapter  is  an  Easter  lesson,  and  the  third 
verse  reads  (see  margin)  :  "  For  the  Lord  Jehovah  is 
the  Rock  of  Ages."  In  the  writings  of  Tertullian,  we 
meet  with  a  striking  exposition  of  Moses'  outstretched 
arms  as  an  emblem  of  the  victory  of  the  Cross.  See 
Against  Marcion,  b.  iii.  cap.  18. 


NOTES.  217 

XVII. 

Jtton  of 


Page  107.  —  The  child  who  frames  a  cross.  In  the 
carpenter  shop  of  Joseph,  the  child  Jesus  is  represented 
by  Overbeck,  I  suppose  following  older  masters,  as 
sawing  out  a  cross,  in  sorrowful  child-play.  It  is  a 
very  touching  embodiment  of  the  opinion  of  the 
Fathers,  that  all  His  life  long  our  Lord's  soul  was 
"straitened"  (St.  Luke,  xii.  50)  by  a  sense  of  the 
baptism  He  was  yet  to  be  baptized  with. 

Page  107.  —  Those  senses  five,  etc.  I  have  here  sug- 
gested the  crucifixion  of  sense,  in  its  specialties,  as 
well  as  in  its  general  form,  as  part  of  our  Lord's  suf- 
ferings. The  indulgence  of  our  senses,  unchastened 
by  self-denial  and  fasting,  strikes  me  as  forcibly 
rebuked  by  the  meditations  I  have  here  given. 

XVIII. 
£t)r  £l)m  Crosses. 


Page  112.  —  The  Thief's  Repentant  Cross.  "The 
planet  Mercury,"  says  one,  "  is  rarely  discovered;  Co- 
pernicus never  saw  it  ;  it  shines  too  near  the  sun. 
And  so  there  is  an  object,  in  itself  most  luminous, 
which  attracts  too  little  attention,  for  a  like  reason. 
I  mean  the  cross  of  the  repentant  thief,  so  near  the 
cross  of  his  Redeemer  that  few  reflect  how  marvellous 
it  is  in  its  history,  how  full  of  instruction  is  the  exam- 
ple it  displays  of  awakened  conscience  and  spontane- 


2l8  NOTES. 

ous  faith,  and,  in  short,  how  it  glorifies  the  Cross  of 
Christ  itself,  by  manifesting  its  power  to  convert,  to 
save,  to  regenerate,  to  sanctify,  and  to  glorify."  I 
quote  from  a  sermon  of  my  own  venerated  father, 
written  and  preached  in  his  earliest  professional  days, 
which  is  said  to  have  been  a  matchless  outburst  of 
eloquence,  of  feeling,  and  of  power.  This  exordium 
has  been  feebly  reproduced  in  my  verses. 

Page  115. —  The  earth  its  depth,  etc.  The  midway 
stake  of  the  cross  betokens  the  depth  and  height  ;  and 
the  antcnntz,  the  breadth  of  its  divine  Mystery,  the 
all-embracing,  the  all-amazing  Atonement.  This  is  a 
favourite  view  of  the  Fathers. 


XIX. 


Page  118.  —  That  minute  event  in  the  history  of  the 
Crucifixion  —  mentioned  by  St.  John  only,  in  the 
words,  "  and  put  it  upon  hyssop  "  —  is  one  which  con- 
nects the  Cross  with  some  of  the  most  significant  of 
the  Mosaic  types.  For  hyssop  was  used  in  sprinkling, 
and  denoted  the  cleansing  power  of  the  blood  of 
Jesus.  But  why  so  ?  It  was  foreseen,  this  mere 
accident  of  the  Passion  ;  and  from  this  the  Mosaic 
ritual  receives  its  exposition.  We  read  that  Solomon 
"  spake  of  trees,  from  the  cedar  tree  that  is  in  Leba- 
non, even  unto  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the 
wall  ;"  and  here  note  that  all  analogy  leads  us  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Cross  was  cedar,  while  the  hyssop  is  what 
we  have  said,  and  the  wall  is  seen  in  Gen.  xlix.  22. 
Joseph's  blessing  —  his  vine,  overrunning  the  Jewish 


NOTES. 


2I9 


wall  of  separation,  and  blessing  the  outside  Gentile 
world — alike  with  purifying  hyssop  and  invigorating 
wine.  "  Purge  me  with  hyssop,"  says  the  Psalmist. 
The  Paschal  was  instituted  in  the  sprinkling  of  blood 
with  hyssop  (Exod.  xii.  22\  and  so  Moses  estab- 
lished the  Old  Covenant,  sprinkling  alike  the  Book 
and  the  people  (Heb.  ix.  19).  See,  also,  the  leper's 
cleansing  (Levit.  xiv.  4). 

XX. 

flicobemuo. 

Page  122. — St.  John  introduces  Nicodemus,  assist- 
ing Joseph  at  the  burial,  with  a  reference  to  his  first 
coming  to  Jesus  by  night.  That  most  interesting 
story  gives  us  no  clew  to  the  impressions  with  which 
the  ruler  left  the  Divine  Teacher,  but  soon  after  (St. 
John,  vii.  50)  we  read  of  honourable  conduct  which 
made  him  suspected  by  his  fellow-Pharisees.  Perhaps 
their  words  (verses  47,  48)  had  a  slant  at  Nicodemus, 
and  were  meant  to  hint  at  their  resolution  to  tolerate 
no  defection  among  their  number.  In  verse  52,  they 
treat  him  with  a  warning  in  form  of  a  question,  and 
with  a  scornful  reference  to  the  Galilean  teacher. 
What,  then,  was  the  decisive  moment  that  brought 
him  to  discipleship  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  when  he 
learned  of  the  Crucifixion  as  an  accomplished  fact  his 
mind  must  have  recurred  to  (St.  John,  iii.  14, 15)  those 
words,  "  As  Moses  lifted  up,"  etc.  This  would  have 
brought  back  all  the  marvellous  words  that  followed, 
and  which  were  not  comprehended  at  the  trme,  with  a 
power  unspeakable.  They  produced  their  effect,  and 


220  NOTES. 

Nicodemus  came  forward,  boldly,  to  claim  the  place 
to  which  Isaiah  had  summoned  "  the  rich,"  so  many 
ages  beforehand  (Isa.  liii.  9). 

XXI. 


Page,  126.  —  I  have  regarded  the  Canticles  as  a  store- 
house of  poetical  imagery,  applicable  to  the  facts 
revealed  concerning  the  Bridegroom  and  the  Bride. 
Chapter  iii.  (verses  5-7)  supplies  the  conformities  I  have 
borrowed  here.  From  chapter  ii.  7,  I  have  borrowed 
the  closing  stanza.  It  may  be  well  to  note  here  that 
the  Canticles  are  an  idyllic  amplification  of  Psalm 
xlv.,  and  this  must  be  expounded  byEphes.  v.  25-33. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  even  the  Revision  retains  the 
unhappy  renderings  (Cant.  vii.  1-3)  which  confound 
articles  of  the  Bride's  dress  with  the  parts  of  the 
body  they  covered  —  as  if  the  epaulettes  of  an  officer 
were  translated  his  "shoulders."  There  is  strong 
reason  to  favour  the  idea  that  this  idyl,  while  it  glorifies 
wedded  love,  and  proves  its  innocence  and  its  mystic 
reference  to  Christ  and  His  Church,  celebrates,  also, 
the  conversion  of  Solomon  to  a  life  of  conjugal  purity 
and  of  absolute  devotion  to  her  who  can  say,  "  I  am 
my  Beloved's,  and  my  Beloved  is  mine"  (Cant.  vi.  3). 

XXII. 
Custrr 

Page  129.  —  The  amazing  unity  of  Scripture  furnishes 
the  believer  a  strong  ground  for  confidence,  which 


NOTES.  221 

blind  unbelief  can  never  take  away.  Abel's  Lamb 
reappears  in  the  Apocalypse,  and  so  does  Judah's 
Lion  ;  and  everywhere  this  imagery  is  kept  up 
throughout  the  Scriptures.  This  Easter-song  is  based 
upon  real  references  and  analogies.  And  here  let  the 
rule  of  heraldry  be  kept  in  view  :  when  the  Lion  is 
emblazoned,  we  see  only  his  noble  and  royal  qualities. 
The  cat-like  treachery  of  the  animal  is  reserved  to 
describe  the  enemy,  who  "goeth  about  seeking  whom 
he  may  devour."  Now  let  us  observe  these  texts  : 

1.  It  is  evident  that  our  Lord  sprang  out  of  Judah. 
Heb.  viii.  3. 

2.  Judah  is  a  lion's   whelp     ...     he    stooped 
down,  he  couched  as  a  lion,  and  as  an  old  lion  ;  who 
shall  rouse  him  up?     Gen.  xlix.  9. 

3.  The    Lion    of    the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Root  of 
David,  hath  prevailed.     Rev.  v.  5. 

Other  texts  referred  to,  or  quoted,  are  as  follows  : 

1.  He  hath  broken  the  gates  of  brass,  and  cut  the 
bars  of  iron  in  sunder.      Ps.  cvii.  16. 

2.  Free  among  the  dead.     Ps.  Ixxxviii.  5,  7. 

3.  Led  captivity  captive.     Ephes.  iv.  8. 

4.  The  lion  did  tear  in  pieces  enough  for  his  whelps. 
Nahum,  ii.  12. 

5.  Christ  being  raised  frqm  the  dead  dieth  no  more. 
Rom.  vi.  9. 

6.  A  garden  inclosed     ...     a  spring  shut  up,  a 
fountain  sealed.'     Cant.  iv.  12. 

7.  The  sting  of  death  is  sin.     I.  Cor.  xv.  56. 

8.  I  am  tormented  in  this  flame.     Luke,  xvi.  24. 

9.  One    of   the  elders   saith  unto  me,  Weep   not. 
Rev.  v.  5. 

10.  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain.    Rev.  v.  12. 


222  NOTES. 

XXIII. 


Page  135.  —  Describing  the  hills  of  Naphtali,  says  a 
modern  traveller:  "  The  perfume  of  a  thousand  flowers 
filled  the  air,  poppies,  anemones,  marigold,  convol- 
vulus ...  a  glowing  mosaic  of  rainbow  hues. 
We  turned  into  a  wild  glen,  where  the  voice  of  the 
turtle  floated  from  tree  to  tree,  and  the  cooing  of 
countless  wood-pigeons  ran  like  a  stream  of  soft 
melody  along  the  jagged  cliffs  above  us."—  Porter's 
Giant  Cities,  p.  267. 


XXIV. 

<£u0tfr  (Eggs. 

Page  139.  —  A  French  writer  has  remarked  :  "  Toute 
1'antiquite  s'est  accordee  a  reconnoitre  dans  les  oiseaux 
quelque  chose  de  divin.  .  .  .  Aristophane,  dans 
sa  comedie  Des  Oiseaux,  fait  allusion  a  cette  tradi- 
tion." 

The  mockery  of  the  King  of  Assyria  has  supplied  me 
with  a  text  to  which  I  have  tried  to  give  an  orthodox 
use,  taking  forth  honey  out  of  a  dead  carcass.  There 
is  much  to  be  said  of  birds  ;  and  I  wonder  so  little 
has  been  written  of  these  wonderful  creatures,  their 
eggs,  their  habits  of  migration,  their  amazing  beauty, 
their  songs,  and  the  miracle  of  their  triumph  over 
gravitation,  their  inexplicable  hold  upon  thin  air, 
their  power  of  wing,  their  strange  life  in  mid-ocean, 
their  mysterious  loves  and  nest-buildings,  their  ex- 


NOTES.  223 

quisite  delicacy  and  decency  of  sexual  formation,  and 
the  lavish  hand  with  which  God  has  adorned  them 
and  displayed  His  power  in  them,  making  them  such 
tokens  of  His  skill,  from  the  humming-bird  to  the 
eagle. 

XXV. 

IJarn. 


Page  145.  —  A  popular  travel-writer  speaks  fre- 
quently of  the  scarlet  robes  which  are  worn  in  Syria, 
even  in  our  times,  as  a  token  of  rank.  "  The  Village 
Sheikh,"  he  says,  ''was  there  to  welcome  us,  con- 
spicuous in  his  scarlet  robe,  which,  to  this  day,  is  the 
badge  of  royalty,  or  power,  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Palestine."  —  Porter's  Giant  Cities,  p.  173. 

Page  145.  —  Zarah's  wrist.  —  Gen.  xxxviii.  28.  The 
illuminating  faith  of  the  early  Christians  is  beau- 
tifully seen  in  the  views  of  Irenasus  touching  this 
sign.  He  regards  it  as  Christ's  token  on  the  seed 
of  Judah,  withdrawing  its  faith  from  Him,  but  still 
claimed  by  Him,  for  a  future  birth  in  the  Gospel. 
"  This  scarlet  token  upon  Him  is  the  passion  of  the 
Just  One,  prefigured  by  Abel,  and  by  the  prophets 
delineated,  but  in  the  last  clays  perfected  by  the  Son 
of  God."  —  Irenseus's  Against  Heresies,  iv.  2. 

Page  145.  —  Rahab's  window.  —  St.  Clement  says: 
"  The  spies  gave  her  a  sign  to  this  purpose,  that  she 
should  display  from  her  dwelling  a  scarlet  thread, 
thus  making  it  plain  that  redemption  should  flow, 
through  the  blood  of  the  Lord,  to  all  that  believe  and 
hope  in  God."  Others  of  the  Fathers  give  similar 
expositions  (Joshua,  ii.  18). 


224  NOTES. 

Page  146. — Scarlet  wool. — Heb.  iv.  19.  "  He  took 
the  blood  of  calves  and  of  goats,  with  water  and 
scarlet  wool  and  hyssop,  and  sprinkled  both  the  Book 
and  all  the  people,  saying,  This  is  the  blood  of  the 
Covenant." 

Page  146. — Scarlet  robe. — St.  Matthew,  xxvii.  28. 
The  scarlet  robe  was  embroidered  with  purple  of 
reddish  tinge,  and  the  robe  was  described  accordingly 
as  purple  or  scarlet. 

Page  146. —  'J'he  Bride. — Cant.  iv.  "  Thy  lips  are 
a  thread  of  scarlet,  and  thy  speech  is  comely." 

The  Church  speaks  with  comely  words,  when  her 
lips  are  baptized  with  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  The 
same  Greek  word  which  is  rendered  scarlet  is  some- 
times rendered  crimson,  as  in  Isa.  i.  18. 

Page  146. —  The  living  Bird. — Levit.  xiv.  6.  The 
rabbins  tell  us  that  the  bird  was  bound  to  the  cedar 
by  the  scarlet  yarn. 

XXVI. 

Caster  in  putmoa. 

Page  151. —  The  Day  the  Lord  had  made. — The 
Lord's  Day  pre-eminently  (Ps.  cxviii.  24)  is  the  An- 
nual Paschal,  but  every  Lord's  Day  is  a  lesser  Easter. 
Without  attempting  to  settle  the  critical  question 
whether  it  was  Easter-Day  when  St.  John  saw,  once 
more,  the  risen  Lord,  I  adopt  a  Paschal  interpretation 
of  the  whole  Book,  as  a  key  to  its  divine  imagery  and 
intent.  And  such  is  the  argument  of  this  poem, 
which  I  humbly'trust  is  auxiliary  to  its  truth. 


NOTES.  225 

XXVII. 

on  tbf  3Ufc. 


Page  154.  —  The  Ark  of  the  Covenant  is  one  of  the 
most  striking  testimonies  to  the  evangelical  nature  of 
the  Hebrew  mysteries.  It  was  enshrined  within  the 
veil  ;  no  eye  beheld  it  there,  save  only  the  high 
priest's  once  a  year,  and  even  he  could  do  this  not 
without  the  most  solemn  purifyings  and  acts  of  atone- 
ment for  himself  and  for  the  people.  When  carried 
through  the  wilderness,  its  terrible  sanctity  was 
guarded  in  the  most  remarkable  manner,  and  awful 
punishments  fell  on  those  who  profaned  it,  by  curi- 
osity or  even  by  a  too  familiar  care  for  it.  May  I  ven- 
ture here  to  warn  against  the  blasphemous  profane- 
ness  of  making  counterfeits  of  the  Ark,  and  using  this 
symbol  of  the  Divine  Presence  in  the  rites  of  modern 
societies,  as  is  said  to  be  done?  Compare  I.  Sam.  vi. 
19,  20,  and  II.  Sam.  vi.  6,  7.  The  cherubim,  whose 
figures  were  wrought  into  the  pure  gold  of  the  cover, 
and  not  screwed  on  to  it,  seem  to  intimate  the  unity 
of  angelic  and  human  beings  in  the  Divine  system  ; 
and  they  were  so  placed  as  to  look  down  upon  the 
"  mercy-seat,"  —  the  burnished  lid,  resplendent  with 
supernatural  light,  which  closed  upon  the  Ark,  cover- 
ing over  the  tables  of  the  Law  within.  Thus  was 
suggested  the  Law,  with  its  direful  threats  of  justice, 
hidden  by  the  mercy  of  God,  in  the  Atonement  of 
Christ  :  a  system  so  marvellous  and  comprehensive 
that  '  the  angels  desire  to  look  into  it"  (I.  Peter, 
i.  12).  So  St.  James  says  :  "  Mercy  rejoiceth  against 
judgment  ;  "  an  apparent  reference  to  the  glorified 
15 


226  NOTES. 

mercy-  seat,  over  against  the  stone  tables  of  Law, 
which  it  hid  from  sight.  The  text  which  I  have 
made  a  motto  to  this  poem  uplifts  the  same  thought 
to  the  heavens.  All  heaven  learns  new  lessons  of  the 
Divine  Love  from  the  salvation  of  sinners,  and  from 
the  experiences  of  the  Church  Militant  here  on  earth. 
This  lends  unutterable  grandeur  to  the  expressions  of 
St.  Paul,  "Seen  of  Angels"  (I.  Tim.  Hi.  16),  as 
applied  to  "  God,  manifest  in  the  flesh." 

XXVIII. 


Page  165.  —  Great  Pan  revives.  —  The  reader  will 
recall  a  mysterious  story  of  Plutarch,  concerning 
what  happened  one  day,  in  the  time  of  Tiberius,  to 
a  party  sailing  on  the  Ionian  gulf,  near  the  Echin- 
ades.  Voices  in  the  air  cried  out,  Great  Pan  is  dead  ; 
and  Christians  have  attributed  the  phenomenon  to 
"some  powers  of  the  air,"  in  -their  consternation, 
when  the  earth  trembled  at  the  death  of  Christ. 
Tiberius  was  alarmed  when  told  of  the  incident  ;  and 
this  is  a  noteworthy  fact  as  the  one  response  of  history 
to  the  natural  inquiry,  Did  the  Csesar  receive  any 
intimation  of  the  amazing  event  which  makes  his 
ignoble  reign  so  memorable  in  human  annals  ?  May 
not  the  official  report  of  Pilate  have  afforded  him  the 
real  ground  of  his  alarm  when  he  heard  this  story, 
allowing  certain  "Acts  of  Pilate"  to  have  been  a 
real  base  for  the  fabrication  that  bears  the  name  ? 
See  Dacier's  Plutarque,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  285.  I  have 
imagined  a  corresponding  impression  produced  upon 


NOTES.  227 

Thamus  (the  pilot  of  the  story)  by  the  concussion  of 
the  air  on  "  Easter  Morning." 


XXIX. 


Page  1/6.  —  Hath  He  not  said  the  Christian's  child, 
etc.  "  Else  were  your  children  unclean,  but  now 
are  they  holy"  (I.  Cor.  vii.  14).  "If  the  root  be 
holy,  so  are  the  branches  "  (Rom.  xi.  i6\  This 
poem  is  designed  for  the  comfort  of  over-scrupulous 
consciences,  and  over-anxious  inquirers  about  the 
heathen  ;  of  whom  I  have  found  examples  in  pastoral 
experience,  among  some  of  the  best  of  men  and 
women. 

XXX. 

for  tl)f  /atl)fr0. 


Page  182.  —  St.  Augustine  is  not  the  earliest  of  the 
Fathers  to  enlarge  upon  the  text  1  have  chosen  for  a 
motto,  nor  do  I  recollect  that  he  anywhere  follows  an 
earlier  authority  in  the  pretty  conceit  of  the  figure  of 
the  cross  made  by  the  outstretched  wings  of  the  bird. 
But  he  thus  expresses  himself  as  to  the  burden  : 
"Christ's  burden  hath  wings,  another's  hath  weight. 
If  thou  pluck  off  the  wings  of  a  bird,  thou  removest 
a  sort  of  weight  ;  but  the  more  of  that  burden  thou 
removest,  the  more  to  earth  the  bird  must  cleave. 
She  flieth  not,  because  thou  hast  unburdened  her  ; 
give  her  back  the  weight  —  she  flieth."  See  Com- 
mentary on  the  Psalms.  Ps.  lix.  7,  African  Psalter 


228  NOTES. 

(Ix.  6,  Anglican).  S-.  Aug.  Opp.  Tom.  IV.,  p.  719. 
Paris  :  Migne,  1865. 

St.  Bernard  copies  the  great  African  doctor  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Leve  Salvatoris  onus,  quo  crescit  amplius,  eo 
portabilius  est.  Nonne  et  aviculas  levat,  non  onerat 
pennarum  sive  plumarum  numerositas  ipsa  ?  Tolle 
eas,  et  reliquum  corpus  pondere  suo  fertur  ad  ima. 
Sic  disciplinam  Christi,  sic  suave  jugum,  sic  onus 
leve,  quo  deponimus,  eo  deprimimur  ipsi  :  quia 
portat  potius  quam  portatur."  S.  BERNARD.  Epist. 
ccclxxxv.  Opp.  Vol.  I.,  p.  691.  Ed  Paris,  1839. 

XXXI. 
dUnorontt). 

Page  184. — Not  here  are  amaranthine  bowers.  The 
flowers  of  June  made  me  pensive  even  as  a  child  :  to 
see  them  fade  so  soon  tortured  me.  I  remember  the 
thrill  with  which  I  heard  my  father  quote  those  lines 
of  Cowper's  "  Task"  : 

"  The  only  amaranthine  flower  on  earth 

Is  virtue  ;  the  only  lasting  treasure    Truth." 

He  explained  to  me  this  word  "  amaranthine,"  and 
gave  its  etymology.  The  impression  has  never  faded 
from  my  mind  and  heart. 

Page  185. —  There  is  a  rainbow  round  the  throne. 
Just  so  the  evanescent  splendour  of  the  rainbow  was 
painful,  till  I  learned  to  dwell  on  the  truth  expressed 
in  this  stanza.  I  longed  for  something  imperishable. 
I  find  it  in  the  vision  of  Patmos  :  "  There  was  a  rain- 
bow round  about  the  throne,  in  sight  like  unto  an 


NOTES.  229 

emerald  ;  "  the  mixed  light  of  amethyst  and  topaz  pre- 
dominating. It  was  a  spring-like  rainbow,  in  which 
the  fiery  heats  of  July  were  not  reflected  ;  so,  it  seemed 
to  me,  we  ought  to  understand  it.  So  too  the  dreams 
of  Fra  Angelico  and  the  nimbus  of  his  holy  ones  seem 
to  be  justified  in  this  text  :  "I  saw  another  mighty 
angel  come  down  from  heaven,  clothed  with  a  cloud, 
and  a  rainbow  was  upon  his  head."  Thus  Revelation 
struggles  with  human  language  when  it  speaks  of  the 
ineffable  glories  of  the  Blessed. 

Page  185.  —  For  sure  as  in  the  soul  are  powers,  etc. 
The  ninth  stanza  in  the  preceding  poem  aims,  like 
this,  to  express  a  refreshing  idea,  which  is  beautifully 
rendered  by  Ancillon  as  follows  :  "II  y  a  dans  les 
affections  du  cceur  quelque  chose  de  pur  et  de  desin- 
teresse,  qui  annonce  1'excellenca  et  la  dignite  de 
1'ame  humaine." 

XXXII. 


Page  1  86.  —  Who  bowed  to  taste  the  wayside  rill. 
Psalm  ex.  7.  After  Pompey's  defeat,  says  Plutarch, 
"etant  arrive  a  Tempe,  brulant  de  soif,  il  se  jeta  a 
terre  sur  le  visage,  but  dans  la  riviere,  et  s'etant 
releve  iltraversa  la  vallee,"  etc.  This  illustrates  the 
idea  of  the  Psalmist,  in  a  manner  ;  but  Messiah  bowed 
to  taste  the  dark  river,  only  to  '  '  lift  up  His  head  " 
and  live  and  reign  forever.  See  Dacier's  Plutarque, 
Vol.  V.  p.  478. 


< 

230  NOTES. 

XXXIII. 


Page  191. — Goodness  my  glory  is.  "And  he  said  : 
I  beseech  Thee  shew  me  thy  glory.  And  He  said,  I 
will  make  all  my  goodness  pass  before  Thee."  Exod. 
xxxiii.  18,  19.  The  immense  significance  of  this 
Scripture,  where  it  stands,  in  connection  with  Sinai 
and  the  second  inscription  of  the  Decalogue  upon 
tables  of  stone,  is  what  the  poem  designs  to  illustrate. 
Compare  Deut.  xxxiv.  1-5.  Was  it  not  at  this  time 
that  "all  His  goodness"  was  made  to  pass  before 
Moses,  prophetically  ? 

Page  191. —  The  still  small  voice,  etc.  I.  Kings, 
xix.  12.  In  the  extremity  of  Israel's  degeneracy 
Elijah  goes  back  to  Horeb,  as  if  to  ask  whether 
"the  fiery  Law  "  would  never  be  avenged.  How 
significant  the  answer  God  vouchsafed  :  a  premonir 
tion  of  the  second  and  more  glorious  Pentecost,  the 
mission  of  the  Comforter. 


XXXIV. 

HUljttsunlwi). 

Page  192. — In  connection  with  Isaiah,  xi.  2,  3,  it 
is  instructive  to  observe  (Rev.  i.  4,  iii.  i,  iv.  5,  and 
v.  6)  :  the  prominence  given  to  the  sevenfold  gifts 
of  the  Spirit,  in  the  great  Prophecy  of  the  New  Cove- 
nant. This  Pentecostal  Hymn  aims  in  some  degree 
to  celebrate  the  practical  blessings  of  these  gifts. 


NOTES.  231 

XXXV. 


Page  192.  —  Let  me  give  the  translation  of  this  most 
ancient  hymn  of  the  Church  as  arranged,  from  Bishop 
Andrewes,  in  a  modern  Oxford  edition  : 

"  O  Joyful  LIGHT 
Of  the  Holy  Glory  of  the  Father, 
Immortal,  Heavenly,  Holy,  Blessed, 

JESUS  CHRIST  : 
Beholding  the  Evening  light, 

We  glorify 

The  Father  and  the  Son, 

And  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

Worthy  art  Thou,  in  all  seasons, 

With  sacred  voices  to  be  hymned, 

Son  of  God, 

Giver  of  Hope  ; 

Wherefore  the  world  glorifieth  Thee, 
O  Joyful  LIGHT, 
Of  the  Holy  Glory, 
Amen." 

I  have  rearranged  the  stichometry,  and  ventured  to 
repeat  the  first  lines  as  a  refrain  at  the  close.  I  have 
always  thought  it  must  have  been  sung  with  such  a 
refrain,  unless,  indeed,  it  concluded  with  one  of  St. 
Paul's  doxologies  ;  which  I  am  persuaded  he  often 
boirows  from  the  Church's  hymns.  See  Ante-Nicene 
Fathers,  American  edition,  Vol  II.  p.  79,  note  2,  and 
p.  298. 

This  they  sang  even  in  the  dark  Catacombs,  where, 
though  they  noted  the  accustomed  hour  of  the  day's 
decline,  they  could  behold  no  other  light  than  Christ's 
shining  in  their  souls.  Who  has  not  seen  the  Chris- 


232  NOTES. 

tian  lamps  taken  from  their  tombs,  marked  by  the  acros- 
tical  IX&TS,  and  the  XP,  or  the  apocalyptic  Alpha 
and  Omega  ?  When  Padre  Marchi  showed  me  such 
relics  in  the  Jesuit  College  at  Rome — "  Observe,"  said 
I  to  the  venerable  man,  "  how  these  early  Christians 
worshipped  JESUS  and  the  Trinity,  not  Mary  and  '  the 
Star  of  the  Sea  '  ;  and  how  closely  they  stuck  to  Holy 
Scripture."  The  Jesuit  looked  unutterable  things  ; 
but  he  answered  nothing  to  the  purpose. 

When  I  have  taken  one  of  these  Christian  relics  in 
my  hand,  I  have  seemed  to  see  some  Christian  vestal 
about  to  be  thrown  to  the  lions  on  the  morrow,  but 
trimming  her  lamp  to  go  forth  and  meet  the  Bride- 
groom, as  she  chanted  her  sweet  even-song  of  faith 
and  hope — "  O  Joyful  Light  ! "  With  this  idea,  please 
read  it  over.  Innumerable  Christians  have  sung  it  on 
the  eve  of  martyrdom.  It  moves  me  to  tears  as  I 
recite  it  with  this  thought.  Bishop  Andre vves'  copy 
of  the  original  Greek  was  found  in  his  private  prayer- 
book  bedewed  with  his  weeping.  Take  then  this 
hymn  of  the  martyr  Christians  at  the  close  of  day,  as 
evidence  of  their  faith  and  piety. 


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